Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by Elizabeth Neely, high school Junior and daughter of one of my very bestest friends, Lisa. Any support you can give “Biz” on her mission to raise funds for Team Lisa would be much appreciated.
By Elizabeth Neely
These past few years have been tough on everyone with Covid-19, but for me and the rest of my family, the pandemic wasn’t the only challenge we had to face. On January 14th 2020, my mom was diagnosed with Bone Marrow cancer (primary MDS).
The news came as a surprise to all of us; she had not shown any signs of being sick. If it weren’t for her annual wellness check up, we would not have found out when we did. The months following her diagnosis were overwhelming and filled with sympathetic looks everywhere we went. To me, it felt impossible for my mom to be sick, she was my superhero who had never once let sickness slow her down.
As chemo started, reality closed in on me. Luckily, my friends and family were there to help. My whole community helped us out with rides, dinners, and random things such as taking my dogs to get washed. They even organized a huge parade of friends lining the streets from our house to the hospital when she went in for her transplant. It felt like my mom had a whole team behind her. The support followed her all the way through her bone marrow transplant and in the long months of recovery following. With everyone’s help, her fight against cancer did not feel as heavy.
Although my mom had a team of loving friends and family behind her, not every patient and family do. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is an organization that provides that support to those who don’t have it.
I have decided to partner with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to raise money in support of their cause, hoping to provide patient care, fund research, and hopefully bring an end to cancer. In honor of my mom, Team Lisa hopes to raise $350,000 for LLS. Cancer affects us all and I hope my generation can be the one to cure it!
My fundraising link is below along with the link to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society’s Student of the Year Campaign for more information.
My fundraising page: https://events.lls.org/nc/cltsoy22/eneely
LLS’s Student of the Year Information: https://studentsoftheyear.org
Please support Elizabeth, Team Lisa, and all those dealing with cancer by making your donation today. Thank you so, so much.
