Allison's Story

Alli has ALL - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, she is 21 months old. Alli started having repeated illness, night sweats and screaming around the beginning of August. She went to the doctor 4 times in 3 weeks and underwent several tests. Alli was sent to Texas Children's Hospital on Wednesday, 8/22. She was diagnosed with leukemia on 8/23 and began treatment. Alli remained in the hospital for one week and is now starting 2 1/2 years of out patient treatment for cancer.

Praying after this first month she will be technically in "remission" and able to be classified in the lowest risk category with a 95% cure rate! We will find out at the end of September. Her three year old cousin Hannah also has ALL, and through her first year of treatment, so far she is doing great!

What is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia? (ALL)

Normally, white blood cells (WBC) help fight infection and protect the body against disease. But in leukemia, WBCs turn cancerous and multiply when they shouldn't, resulting in too many abnormal WBCs, which then interfere with organ function. If too many lymphoblasts (a certain type of WBC) are produced, a child will develop acute lymphoblastic, or lymphoid, leukemia (ALL).

This is the most common type of leukemia, affecting nearly 60% of kids with this cancer of the blood cells. Kids ages 2 to 8 are more likely to be affected, but all age groups can develop ALL.

Thanks to advances in therapy and clinical trials, the outlook for kids with ALL is promising. With treatment, about 85% are cured!

Information from http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/cancer/all.html

On behalf of the Merrel family, thank you for your generous donations. All donations will be used solely to offset expenses associated with medical treatment for Alli. Please note that donations for this cause are not tax deductible.