REMOVING BARRIERS TO TREATMENT: Nour’s Story

Tinley Park, IL

The doctor asked her to immediately call her family. Nour was being hospitalized that day to treat a rare blood cancer, b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Weeks earlier she was feeling fatigued, often dizzy and breathless. When bruises appeared for no reason, she made an appointment to see her doctor. Now she had to call her boss while crying to explain why she could no longer fulfill her work commitment.

The Difficult Journey Ahead

She was to begin a long and difficult journey – weeks turned into months of chemotherapy, transfusions, and radiation in preparation to receive a bone marrow transplant. During this time, she did her best to manage the side effects including nausea, weight loss, depression, anxiety, and of course fear of the outcome.

What would happen?

Nour comes from a loving family and has always cherished time with her young nieces and nephews. Her name Nour means “sunlight.” She has always been a source of light to those around her, but especially for the smallest members of her family.

Although she was in pain, and terribly thin from illness, she couldn’t stay away from the little ones. But she didn’t want them to see her sick.

So at 88 lbs, she would don her favorite wig, apply some lip liner, and put on a happy face to be with them.

They were a source of hope.

Nour explains that hope was a major factor in her recovery. Even though she was surrounded by family, she still had the feeling of being alone. No one really knew the entirety of what she was dealing with. Many patients are uncomfortable expressing their fears with loved ones.

Her medical treatment, especially over a prolonged period, led to many unexpected costs. Nour was not able to work during many months and her savings quickly depleted. She explains, “Experiencing financial struggles is very overwhelming. It caused me so much stress and anxiety.”

LifeSaving Support

Nour is very grateful to the Icla da Silva Foundation for rushing to provide financial and emotional support during an extremely difficult time. In addition to the assurance that she wasn’t facing this battle alone, we helped fund co-pays, transportation, and groceries while she fought for her life.

“Receiving your grant brought me relief and restored my hope. I felt like I had a community with me. Thank you again for everything you and your program do to help people going through this dark time.”

Nour received her bone marrow transplant and we wish her a full recovery. We hope she continues to bring light to everyone around her.

You can make a real difference as someone battles for life. A bone marrow transplant is a long and difficult journey. It brings a host of expenses that aren’t covered by most medical insurance.

Please donate today and help a patient like Nour access a life-saving transplant. You will remove barriers for a patient in their darkest time.

DONATE TODAY

Written by: Bret Itskowitch

With tremendous sadness, we were recently notified of the untimely passing of Vivianna Sophia Lane. She died Tuesday, August 7th at the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. We extend heartfelt condolences to her family, her friends and anyone who was fortunate to come in contact with her. Sophia was a talented, passionate and hard working young woman who was fighting a battle with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. We were working with Sophia and her family in their search to find a matching bone marrow donor. Sophia was 21 years old.

Her family has notified us that they would like us to keep her hope alive; ” if you haven’t done so, please sign up to be a bone marrow donor. One hundred and forty people signed up to save her life, and others. It made her so happy in her last days.”

join the registry

Sophia’s Search for a Matching Donor

Vivianna “Sophia” Lane is a 21 year old college student at Lake Forest College, in Lake Forest, IL, a suburb north of Chicago. She is working towards her bachelors degree, a double major in Business and Studio Art.

Sophia is energetic, creative, outgoing and well rounded. She is passionate about art, golf, singing, biking and swimming. She is hard working. Her dedication to golf includes competing on the boys team in high school, caddying, coaching and working at a golf shop. Her devotion to art encompasses volunteering, two internships and her first solo exhibition at the Evanston Art Center.

Sophia also has B cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She was diagnosed last year (November 2017), underwent chemotherapy treatments and relapsed just last month (July 2018). Her doctors are working to get her into remission so that she can undergo a stem cell transplant. Sophia does not have a sibling match and will rely on the Be the Match registry to find a lifesaving donor.

We need to find a matching stem cell donor for Sophia. The only way to do this is to ask more people to join the registry.

Joining is easy. Click the link, setup an account with an email and password, and answer a few questions. A swab kit will be sent to your home. Once you swab the inside of your cheek and return it to Be the Match, you are entered in the registry and included in patient searches.

More than 14,000 patients are searching every year. Their cure is inside you. You may save a life.

Please join the registry for Sophia: join the registry

To find more information about the donation process, please click here.

If you have already joined, please help us share Sophia’s story so that we may get others to consider becoming a potential life-saver.