Diagnosis: Pre B Cell ALL

My beautiful daughter Annara was diagnosed with Leukemia on July 22nd 2015. She is a vibrant, active, sweet, and "Adorable" (she will correct you if you call her cute), 4 year old baby angel as I call her. She is mommies little miracle. Me and daddy works very hard to bring her into this world (with lots of heartbreak and treatments and procedures just to keep her). Now she is fighting for her life. We are doing the best we can to help her and be here for her and at the same time trying to keep the best "Normal" she knows. I dont want treatment to feel like a burden to her.

The next morning a doctor came in and told me they had found blasts on her blood smear and they were 90 % positive she had Leukemia. I was alone, she was sleeping. I spent the next 3 hours sobbing. This is when they fun began. Testing. Lots of testing and my daughters first OR visit. It made me so nervous I passed out in the OR. I was still by myself. My husband was an hour and a half away caring for our other children. We also do not have a reliable vehicle, more or less, so he was unable to come back up right away. We endure and after a few transfusions and procedures we had our diagnosis. Best case scenario and it did relieve a little. Treatable. They even used the word curable. But I wasn't taking much from that. She had only had it a short time. It had not spread to her brain, spinal cord, or organs. Just her blood was being affected by it. The oncologist said it was the best we could ask for besides no cancer. Yes cancer. It has taken me 3 months to finally use the word.

For now I have been off work for 2 months to be here for her treatment and between medical expenses and transportation, and bills, we are very much strapped and barely making it. We need help bad. This is why I am telling my story here. Maybe someone who sees it can take into their heart to help a family struggling, who just got the most devastating news they could have received.

– The Cottrell Family