Stephanie is the mother of three children and wife of a member of the US Navy. Stephanie was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and received a Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (HCT) transplant. She turned to the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation for assistance to help cover the cost of housing so that her family could stay nearby while she was hospitalized, and to ensure that her parents could stay with her when her husband was on military duty.
Ariel, a very strong little girl, was diagnosed with sickle cell disease shortly after her birth in 2006. She underwent an allogeneic bone marrow transplant in August of 2011 when she was four years old. One of her little brothers was her donor. While Ariel was hospitalized, her mother stayed with her at the transplant center over two hours away, while her dad cared for her two brothers back home. Ariel’s family teamed up with the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation to collect donations for help with expenses associated with the transplant. Ariel is now doing well and is cured of sickle cell disease. She has been excelling at school and sports since her transplant.
Armand was diagnosed with Liposarcoma in his right leg in October of 2018. Although the doctor said it is non-aggressive, the cancer has metastasized to other parts of his body including his pelvis, lung, pancreas and lately his spine. Armand was being treated at Hackensack University Medical Center, which is 50 miles away from his home. Traveling to and from the hospital and his home was not an option. This financial burden was taking a big toll on him and his wife. Armand and his wife reached out the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation for help with accommodations and a weight was lifted off their chest.
In March 2021, Kacey was diagnosed in Baton Rouge with Aplastic Anemia. During her initial diagnosis and hospital stay, she had multiple platelets and blood transfusions; bone marrow biopsies, MRI’s, and cat-scans. However, her doctor was adamant that she travel to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX to seek a second opinion due to the expertise of their doctors. Unfortunately, her insurance provider deems MD Anderson as an out-of-network hospital and they will only cover 60% of the charges. With the help of her mother and community, Kacey has partnered with the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation's Carelines Program. BMCF’s programs have helped provide financial support and accommodations.
In June 2018, Gabrielle began to experience severe skin rashes. Over the next several months, bloodwork and skin biopsies provided little information as Gabrielle cycled through medicines to keep the rashes at bay. While home in New York for the winter holidays, she spiked a fever that led her to be hospitalized and diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundations housing program, Open homes, was able to ease the burden of finding temporary accommodations for her family and provide a home away from home when she needed it the most.
Fangzhou was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in 2016. In May 2019, the CT scan showed that she had a recurrence. The doctor in Kentucky recommended radical amputation. As a result, her and her family went to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York for a second opinion and stayed there for the surgery to keep her leg. Her family members needed a place to stay and Fangzhou and her husband are both students without an income. They couldn’t afford such a big expense. Thanks to Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundations housing program, they were able to get help with accommodation in their difficult time and get through their cancer journey with less stress.
For the last several years Kendall was suffering from extreme fatigue and pain in her legs, which continued to get worse. Kendall continued to go to several doctors and tried many different things to solve the issues she was experiencing, all ruled to be benign, until she noticed swelling on her left arm. She went to the ER for the swelling and after an entire day of tests, it turned out that Kendall was diagnosed with stage 3b Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Not being able to work and running out of PTO days, Kendall does not have an income at the moment. Kendall chose to use Carelines to help fundraise to get support from her community. With the support of her family, friends, and co-workers, Kendall is in great spirits and is half way through her chemo treatments!