Blessed Beyond AML’s Curse

She is Anne

Mommy Anne is the wonderful half of our dad and the most active-passive Supermom we know.

She gets older every 16^th of August, and meditates through her melodies. She also loves playing with little children, so it was a granted wish when Liri, her first grand child, was born last June 2016.

Mommy Anne has always been there for us, whether apparent or not. She possessed this infallible foresight which makes her a bit of a nagger; nevertheless, she proves that mothers know best. That is why our world fell apart when in April 2016, she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a malignant disease of the bone marrow in which blood cells do not reach complete maturation. It is fatal if not treated.

To complete her regimen of five chemotherapy cycles, Mommy had 11 confinements of at least 15 days each over a span of nine months (April – December 2016) at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute. At the end of her treatment, she was found to be in remission.

AML Strikes Again

The year 2017 brought hope especially with Mommy’s clearance to go back to work. Thus, she and dad went home to Ifugao to resume their respective works in the Department of Agrarian Reorm, to sleep in their own bed, and to wake up each morning to their familiars.

Unfortunately, after barely four weeks in her longed-for routine, Mommy experienced joint and muscle pains on her left lower limb. Later, rashes developed on the spot of pain and on her torso and face. These, and other tests, led to the diagnosis of relapsed AML. She was confined again at the NKTI from March 1 to May 12 and was given two cycles of a second-line chemotherapeutic agent. It was hoped that she would be brought into remission after four to six cycles, and be on a monthly maintenance of the same agent - for life.

Help us beat it!

There is no standard protocol for relapsed AML and the current treatment is expensive. With this, Mommy had to travel all the way to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland to fight the disease through a clinical trial.

Mommy Anne’s ordeal has been devastating and dreadful, but we continue to dwell on the strength and faithfulness we see in her. The support we’ve received from our family and friends has been overwhelming; everything became more bearable knowing and witnessing how much our mother is loved.

We ask that you include her in your prayers - for her strength and faith to be sustained for this fight; for her to be healed. We also ask whatever support you could extend for her stay in Maryland with our dad, and for her succeeding treatments that might include bone marrow transplant. Any support from you will be immeasurably appreciated. Please share this also to your family and friends.

Links

For financial support, please follow the steps on this site. Alternatively, you may send through:

Land Bank of the Philippines Savings Account No. 0436-139-667 under Joi Mirdanne R. Dumaoang.

US Checks may also be written for Artemio L. Dumaoang and mailed to:

Artemio Dumaoang (c/o Leonora Dumaoang-Borja) at 953 Carson Lane, Pomona, CA 91766 (update as of 8/8/2017)

For inquiries, please feel free to contact us at (63)997-725-2420 - Mara, (63)933-282-2508 - OJ or (01) (909) 436-7811 - Artemio

Thank you!

Praying for compassion—Mara, OJ, Chin