At the age of 35, Suzanne and her husband Craig had just purchased their first home together and in the midst of renovation, with 2 year-old and 6 month-old daughters, Suzanne was diagnosed with Leukemia. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia is a type of blood cancer that affects the lymph nodes and bone marrow.  It typically affects elderly men, and has rarely been seen in women Suzanne’s age. 

Suzanne is now 37 and unfortunately her condition has progressed more quickly than expected. Suzanne underwent 4 months of chemotherapy treatment for the CLL and sadly it was determined that her body was not responding to treatment. She learned that she has a rare genetic mutation that renders her highly resistant to the FDA approved treatment plan for CLL, making treatment especially difficult for this disease. 

Suzanne recently had surgery to remove two more lymph nodes from her neck to see if the CLL had transformed into Large Cell Lymphoma.  Unfortunately it had and she will soon start a new form of chemotherapy to treat that cancer.

Suzanne has been in and out of the hospital for weeks at time trying to battle both diseases.  She often suffers from fatigue, shortness of breath, and anemia.  Her doctors at Mount Sinai and Dana Farber Institute are doing their best to treat her.

This slow growing cancer is moving uncharacteristically fast and has begun ravaging her body years earlier than expected.  Suzanne’s immune system is now so compromised that she was recently unable to fight off a common infection and had to undergo emergency surgery to remove most of her septum in her nose.  She is unable to go out in public and must be hyper-vigilant about contact with anyone who may be sick, as any kind of infection requires a hospital stay and could have fatal consequences. This means that when either of her daughters get a runny nose, she must leave the house immediately until they are completely well.

Suzanne’s attitude has been incredibly positive and inspirational throughout this fight with CLL and now Large Cell Lymphoma.  We all remain very hopeful along with her that she will recover from these devastating diseases.

Recently Suzanne was in the hospital receiving a new type of chemotherapy treatment to fight the Large Cell Lymphoma. We were hopeful this would have put her into a temporary remission and she could receive a bone marrow transplant. While this treatment seems to have worked for the Large Cell it did not control the CLL. Suzanne is now on a new chemotherapy regimen that does appear to be working on the CLL. In a few weeks she will get another bone marrow biopsy which will indicate whether or not she is ready for the bone marrow transplant. This is now her best chance for survival. She also hopes to be able to receive a highly experimental vaccine that could offer her the possibility of a lifetime remission.

The medical expenses keep growing.  These expenses include surgeries, co-pays, prescriptions, travel and eventually lodging for her and her caretaker during the tenuous months she will spend in Boston near the Dana Farber Institute while recovering from the transplant in isolation.

There is however great hope for her survival in the bone marrow transplant and the vaccine that might be able to bring her condition to a full remission. Both treatments have very painful and have dangerous aftereffects, but Suzanne has been amazingly strong throughout this and she’s ready to face the next stage of her battle.

Any donation amount is deeply appreciated. We hope to raise enough money to provide some relief for current and future expenses so that Suzanne can worry less about finances and focus her energy on getting well and being with her husband, 4 year-old daughter Hannah, and 2 ½ year-old daughter Jaena.