By John E. Walter | President & CEO, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
As a passionate supporter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), I would like to share with you the story of this year's Girl of the Year for LLS's Man & Woman of the Year campaign in Miami. I hope you will find it as inspirational as I did.
Kiarrah-Dashe' was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on May 19, 2011 when she was just 4 years old.
KD was getting fevers and suffering from exhaustion, I knew something was wrong when she started taking naps and brought her to the hospital. In the ER they found nothing, so I followed up with her pediatrician. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary but ran blood tests anyway. Later that night her pediatrician called and told me to take her directly to the ER. When I got to the hospital more tests were run and after hours of waiting it was finally confirmed. KD had leukemia.
While the worst part about the entire ordeal was finding out, the four week hospital stay and weekly doctor visits was no "walk in the park" However, it's a small price to pay when you can hold your child every day. The doctors and nurses at Holtz Children's Hospital are the best. They made the whole experience bearable by treating KD like a normal kid. As KD says, "she just has bugs in her blood."
KD was back to herself in just 3 weeks, talking a mile a minute and acting like she had ants in her pants. Throughout this entire life-changing event we kept telling ourselves that it could have been worse. She is an amazing strong little girl that has taught us all to always remain positive.
Tyrashiana, KD's Mom
Many of you have your own stories or have been moved to support LLS by someone like KD. One of LLS's oldest fundraising programs is our neighbor to neighbor campaign. People share their stories with friends and neighbors and ask them to support the cause.
If you'd like to participate in the neighbor to neighbor campaign this year, it would be greatly appreciated. Nothing is more powerful than a friend asking a friend to support the cause that is dear to them. Please fill out this form and a neighborhood campaign kit will be mailed to you.
Wishing you the best of health,
John E. Walter
President & CEO, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
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