A baby girl from Minnesota is in need of a bone marrow donation as she fights a rare and potentially deadly form of cancer.
Kirsten Smith first believed something was wrong with her daughter, Zoe, when the normally happy 1-year-old began to cry constantly last month, she told KJZZ. While Smith and her husband initially attributed their daughter's behavior to separation anxiety, it was soon apparent there was something more serious involved.
“We’re first-time parents, but we knew something was wrong,” Smith told the news station.
Doctors treated Zoe with antibiotics for an ear infection, but after seeing no apparent change in her condition, Smith took her baby to an emergency room where Zoe was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia on April 23. CML is a rare form of blood cancer that affects the bone marrow., according to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Zoe was airlifted to Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital in Utah where she underwent her first chemotherapy treatment. Heartbreakingly, family members other than her mother are not allowed to be with her because of coronavirus safety precautions.
"After endless doctor visits for over a month, we were given the news that would be any parent's worst nightmare," a GoFundMe set up for the family explained.
"Not only is Zoe's case one-of-a-kind but it comes in the midst of a global pandemic, making it impossible for her Dad and family members to be present," the page continued.
Being away from Zoe has proven difficult for her father, Smith told KJZZ.
"My husband called Primary Children's and what they told him was basically unless she was dying that he couldn’t come," she said. "Which when your child is diagnosed with cancer is all it feels like is my child is dying."
In another blow, doctors said Zoe is now in a "blast crisis," meaning large clusters of blast cells from the bone marrow have spread to spread to tissues and organs, according to the American Cancer Society.
Zoe is currently on the waiting list for a life-saving bone marrow transplant in the family's hopes of beating the cancer.
The family is asking anyone under the age of 45 who wants to be a potential donor to register at Be the Match and to send their results to their designated email ([email protected]).
Their GoFundMe page, in place to help raise funds for medical expenses, has raised $79,391 toward their $200,000 goal as of Monday afternoon.
"We are hopeful that with her team of doctors and love and support from those around her," the donation page reads, "our sweet Zoe can beat this and go on to live a happy, healthy life like any other child."
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