Gobsmacked.

For a number of reasons, I was nervous about posting Emily’s story. Would I get all the details and medical terms right? Would I be able to write in a way that touched people rather than simply evoke their pity? Would my regular readers be angry or annoyed with me for asking them to give money to people they don’t know? And perhaps most frighteningly of all: What if nobody donates anything?

Then miraculously, the links started piling up. The comments flooded in. And each and every time I opened my email there were 30 transaction notifications from PayPal. Admittedly, my first reaction was just relief that the initial response to the post was positive.

And as the hours ticked by and the numbers ticked up, my relief changed to awe. And then to amazement, to joy, to elation. And finally, to complete and utter disbelief. In the span of a little more than 48 hours, more than $15,000 has been donated to the Mandell family. Yes. Fifteen THOUSAND dollars.

I am humbled to think that the amount raised so far is about 15 times more than I ever in my wildest dreams imagined we could scrape together for this family. And it comes just in the nick of time, because Emily’s pathology reports finally came back from the lab this morning.

Emily has been diagnosed with an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor, or AT/RT. Unfortunately, AT/RT is a very rare, very aggressive and highly malignant cancer with a correspondingly high mortality rate.

Tomorrow morning (Thursday), Katie and Brian will be meeting with a team of specialists to discern the best plan for Emily’s treatment. Most likely, the plan will not include staying in Savannah. AT/RT is very rare (only 30 cases are diagnosed each year) and Emily will need to be under the care of an oncologist who specializes in treating this specific disease. As such, there is not one at their current hospital.

Please, if you wanted to donate and haven’t yet, don’t let the fact that it seems that there is “already so much money” deter you. Medical bills can sometimes total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and as of right now, it is uncertain which route Brian and Katie will have to take to get Emily healthy. Some of the options laid out before them tomorrow might not be covered by insurance. They will also incur travel expenses and living expenses in another area of the country, all while continuing to hold on to their assets here in Virginia. And we don’t know exactly how long Emily’s treatment will last, or how long Brian will have to be out of work.

And if you’re praying, please continue. Pray fervently for wisdom for Emily’s doctors, and strength and endurance for her parents, and for a miraculous healing for Emily herself.

I believe with my whole heart that God orchestrated a financial miracle on this paltry little website. And I believe with my whole heart that he can orchestrate a medical miracle as well. I don’t know why we shouldn’t ask that of Him.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed in any way to this chapter in Emily’s life, and to those who will. Each and every one of you has made a difference to this family, and to me, and to a little girl who we have to believe will grow up and be able to thank you in person for what you’ve done for her.

More information when I have it. Thank you again, a million times over.

Comments

[Amy E.]

Hi, I found this site through Emily's pic posted on another site. I work in biotech and just wanted to say that enrolling her in a clinical trial might be a good way to go. Most studies provide free or low cost drug and are run by top notch physicians in the field. I've found a few for children with this particular type of tumor:

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=atypical+teratoid+rhabdoid+tumor+pediatric&recr=Open

Not all Dr.'s are aware of the availability of trials, so they may want to bring this up with her physician. A lot of the time, the drugs in the trial are already FDA approved and are being looked at in combination with other drugs or pain relief techniques. Just a thought. If they have any questions, they can email me. I've been managing trials for several years.

Either way I'll be donating Friday (so keep the button up!) and my family will keep Emily and her family in their thoughts and prayers. I can't imagine how difficult this must be.

[Becky H]

I just wanted to say that, while $15,000 sounds like a tremendous amount of money (and is certainly an amount to be proud of raising), I can say with certainty that it won't last long. I work with kids with special medical needs and even when they aren't hospitalized and the family does not have to relocate, care can cost over $3,000 a month easily. Again, that's without hospital bills or treatment to speak of. So, everyone keep giving and let's bless the heck out of this family!

[Jennifer]

I will be linking to this from my journal as well. Emily's story moved me to tears, big huge buckets of tears. My daughter is almost 16 months old. Emily's parents are living mine and every parents worst nightmare. I donated what little bit I could and I hope I can again. Please let them know that hearts are breaking all over the country for their struggle and we're all praying for a happy ending.

[Dawn]

I would like to know which donation is preferred. I could easily go the Paypal route, but am also willing to go to my nearest Bank of America to save you the Paypal fees. Please just let me know. Also, I don't have a huge reader base but will be linking to this anyway, every little bit helps, right? Already being a hormonal mess in the midst of my fifth pregnancy, I cannot imagine how your friends are dealing with this. They are on my mind constantly, and in my prayers.

[Brianne Gibson]

I wanted to let you know about a great prayer support site- www.asherandjacobsfriends.com

If you go to the site, you can "add your family" VERY easily and that way you can get more exposure to Emily's story and they will put a link on their site to whatever site you want (yours, theirs) and then undoubtedly bring more people to donate for their precious little girl.

If you have any questions, email me and I will give you more details. But I can tell you firsthand, it is FULL of great prayer warriors!

Brianne

[Amy W]

Please let me know if they end up at Duke as I live close by and can definitely help...

[Tessie]

GOD BLESS THE INTERNETS! I've gotten at least 5 emails from people who have never even COMMENTED on my blog before, but donated. Man, people are awesome.

[Geege]

Emily,

You should be commended for what you're doing to help your friends and their daughter. I'm sure they know how lucky they are to have you as a friend, but I wanted to point out that the rest of us realize it too.

Praying for little Emily,
Geege

[Jana]

I'm not sure if St. Jude here in Memphis has a specialist in that, but St. Jude is amazing and the family won't have medical bills. Keep us posted.

[PessimisticRedhead]

Congratulations on rallying all of your loyal readers for such a good cause.

I'll continue to pray for Emily and her family.

[ashley]

So beautiful.

You're so right.

God is amazing.

I'm tearing up...because it's amazing, isn't it?

[Angella]

Thanks for the update. This story has grabbed my heart.

My daughter's name is Emily, so I feel an extra tug. I'm praying as hard as I can.

[Erica]

Please let us know where they end up, as I am in Dallas and would love to help them if they're here.

[melanie]

Thank you for the update. I donated what I could on my meagre grad student's stipend, but also linked on my blog, which I hope generated some funds.

[SJ]

As a few others have said, please let us know where they end up - I'm in CO and would love to help in any way, shape or form.

I think what you've done is amazing! I'll continue to spread the word in my little part of the internet. This story has touched my heart and tons of other as well, my thoughts and prayers continue to go out to them.

[Someone Being Me]

I am so glad you got such a positive response. I have seen some mean trolls pop up and question the motives of those asking for donations on other blogs. I will keep praying for little Emily and her family. Please keep us updated.

[Maureen]

I love the internet so much. But also, I think most people really really want to help other people, but get stymied by not knowing how. So for you to have set up this donation system (and really, prayers and money is all we, the general non-medical public can do), gave people just what they needed to help in a simple, concrete way. So they did.

[All Adither]

The blogging community is pretty awesome. I'm so glad you're able to help this family. I cannot imagine what they must be going through emotionally.

[Angie]

Of course, I want to reiterate all the things the previous posters have said re: blessings, hope, etc.

But also... My guess is that there's a good chance your friends will end up coming to New York for treatment at Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Institute or to the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital in Westchester County. If so, let me know if there's anything I can do to ease their transition to this big city. I could take a meal to the hospital, run errands for them so they can stay with Emily, pick up laundry, do said laundry and return it later that day, etc.

I will continue to check for updates and send you and friends all the best..

[Shanna]

I know that everybody is saying this but in case you missed it, please be sure to let us know where they end up. I am between Milwaukee and Chicago (Children's Memorial in both). I would happily help this family make a move to either city and just be close by to support them. Unfortunatly, I am not able to donate a lot, I gave what I could, but my family is praying. I have linked your post to my blog as well and I would love to help more directly if I could. Keep us posted!

[Shanna]

Also, $15,000 while a lot of money, will not make much of a dent for this family. My son was only born early yet we incurred over $100,000 in medical costs! Please keep the donations coming because they will surely need it. And don't forget to pray!!!

[Jamie]

Emily - if they end up being treated at Children's Memorial here in Chicago, please let me know I can rally the bloggers here. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would love to get them a good deal on rent (in fact, I know an empty $500K condo they might be able to stay in for free) and houshold goods, etc.

[Erin]

I'm in Boston, near DFCI (dana-farber cancer institute, where incidentally I had treatment myself) and Children's Hospital/Boston. Please do let us know where they end up. I'd be more than happy to help in any way that I could.

Thanks for the update, Emily.

I'm p*ssed off. No, not at you. But at God. WHY do things like that happen?

Why?

Why should a totally innocent baby have to suffer while an old lady like me walks around healthy?

I know. There are no answers. I will be donating.

Vicki

[Kellye]

Just when I think humanity is all but gone, and all people care about are themselves and their possessions, a post like this comes along - and people respond. Emily, thank you for helping us put things into perspective and giving us the opportunity to help your friends. My thoughts and prayers are with them.