Community gathers around family fighting after toddler's leukemia diagnosis
WEST BOYLSTON – The greater community is rallying around the Finizio family in a big way following 2-year-old Ellie being diagnosed with leukemia at the end of June.
“The community support has been incredible,” said the toddler’s mother, Laura. “It’s overwhelming how generous everyone has been. Kind strangers are reaching out sharing resources, money and thoughtful gifts for Ellie.”
The family has lived in town for two years.
As of Monday evening, almost $30,000 has been raised through a GoFundMe fundraiser set up by Laura’s two sisters.
“The goal of this page is to help ease the financial burden this will put on their family,” the information reads. “Donations will be used for Ellie's medical bills, food, lodging and anything else the family may need to support them through this difficult time. We will be providing updates on this page as we have them.
Laura, a teacher at Burncoat Prep, an elementary school in Worcester, said the money will help support them while she and her husband, Matt, who works for St. Pierre in Worcester, are out of work.
The family has been at Boston Children’s Hospital, in Boston, since receiving the “devastating” news on June 29 that Ellie has mixed-phenotype acute leukemia, a rare form of the cancer.
“She was born with a rare blood condition called neutropenia, which comes with a risk of developing leukemia,” Laura said. “Due to this, she has had annual bone marrow biopsies and bloodwork done every three months to monitor her blood counts and watch for anything that may develop. The leukemic cells were found during her routine bloodwork. We were shocked as she had not shown any signs of not feeling well and had been acting herself.
"We are still trying to process and adjust our lives as this is our new reality,” she said.
According to the GoFundMe, since being admitted to the hospital, Ellie has undergone a battery of procedures and tests so her team of doctors and providers can get a clearer picture of the severity of the leukemia.
“Laura, Matt and Ellie all have a long road ahead of them, with many months spent living at Boston Children's Hospital,” the GoFundMe stated.
As of now, the plan is to treat with chemotherapy first and then do a bone marrow transplant.
“She is going to be inpatient throughout her treatments and transplant due to the added risk of infection with neutropenia, so they have told us to plan on living at Boston Children’s for at least four months, possibly longer, depending on how many rounds of chemo she will need,” Laura said.
Ellie, who will turn 3 on Feb. 28, started her first 28-day cycle of chemo on Aug. 5. After each round, she will go through testing again.
“If the leukemia is still there, we will need to do more chemo,” Laura said. “She will have a bone marrow transplant once her leukemia has been cured. She needs the transplant as well because with her neutropenia, there is a good chance the leukemia would come back without the transplant.”
A local woman is planning a fundraiser for the family on Sept. 18 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Lilac Hedge Farm in Rutland and, in addition to donating to the GoFundMe, Laura said another way people can help is by donating blood and getting tested by Be The Match “to help grow the bone marrow bank.”
“Although these may not directly impact Ellie, they will help someone else in her situation,” Laura said.
A post she made in the Mountaineer Mamas Facebook page last week that included the link to the GoFundMe, www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-finizio-family, has garnered nearly 300 care reactions and dozens of comments from area residents offering words of encouragement and prayers. The young mother said they are grateful for the ongoing support and started a Facebook page, Ellie Strong, where they will share updates and such with the legion of people pulling for them.
“We are blessed to be part of such an amazing community and to have our wonderful family’s support as we embark on this long journey.”
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Community gathers around family fighting after toddler's leukemia diagnosis
