When 17-month-old Alice Wolter developed a fever about two weeks ago, her parents Jeff and Korinna thought it was because she was teething.
The doctor suspected something different, however, and her blood was sent away for diagnosis.
The next thing the family knew, little Alice was in BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver suffering from a rare form of leukemia for a child, MDS or Myelodysplastic Syndromes.
Alice’s aunt, Karla Ivany, explains that Alice needs to have a bone marrow transplant so the family has been awaiting results of tissue taken from her three-year-old brother Anthony, who would likely be the best match. Her mom and dad might also be possible donors.
“Right now she’s not feeling too, too bad. She goes multiple times a week for blood transfusions and platelet transfusions. Every time she gets a transfusion she feels better,” says Ivany.
“When she receives a donor, she will start her chemotherapy just before – about a month before the transplant. It’s going to be a long road. After her transplant she’s in isolation for three months. That’s about as far as they’ve told us, which is far enough.”
Karla stresses the importance of bone marrow and blood donation.
She says telling Alice’s story will be worth it if even one person decides to donate after hearing about her situation.
“You never know if someone else will need it. People don’t realize little kids in our community need that kind of help.”
Karla and her spouse Chris are police officers; Karla works in Enderby and Chris in Salmon Arm. Karla thinks back to Salmon Arm’s Michelle and Jamie Leverrier going through the shock of having their four-year-old daughter Megan diagnosed with cancer on her liver.
CrossFit Salmon Arm set up a fitness fundraiser on Saturday and raised $3,085 for the family.
A friend has set up a GoFundMe account for Alice’s family – Jeff and Korinna are staying in Vancouver and Jeff is unable to go overseas to work as he normally would.
It can be found at: Help fight for baby Alice.
