By Marisol O’Neal
By the end of this story, it is my hope to inspire every reader to become an advocate of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and/or to become a donor towards their amazing cause.
On February 1, 2024, I received a phone call from my children’s caretaker; the call was frantic and filled with concern over my one-year-old daughter, Nina.
“Marisol, she has bruises everywhere! This is not normal! You need to get her to a doctor immediately,” cried Stefani Funderburg, our daughter’s caretaker.
It was not too long after that call that our 48-hour long mental-and-physical rollercoaster began.
I immediately followed-through Stefani’s instruction to go to our primary care physician, who immediately checked Nina’s blood levels. Those levels indicated that Nina’s blood platelet level had an alarming level of 3 — when they should normally be within the 200-400 range. At that point, I had no idea what that level meant, but I did know that the tone and body language of all of the staff had changed upon reading the result. This result was serious.
I received instructions to go to St. Francis’ Emergency Room; my doctor also prepared me to be transported out of the area to receive further care for this matter. Several hours later, Nina and I were ultimately transported via ambulance from Monroe to Baton Rouge where Nina would receive treatment at Our Lady of the Lake’s Children’s Hospital.
My husband, Adam, was hot-on-our-heels in a separate car. While we were riding in separate cars, we remained laser-focused on one thought: “What is wrong with our baby girl? Will she be okay?”
We had a few hours to think through every scenario that could possibly happen, and by the time we arrived in Baton Rouge, our chests were tight with anxiety as we awaited an official diagnosis from the doctor.
Around 2 a.m. on Friday morning, we met our first nurse, Chad, who was as cool as cool can be. We could feel his passion for his job, and we immediately felt relief when Chad explained the game plan for the evening. Nina would receive a treatment called Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIg); this treatment would attack the virus (rhinovirus — aka the common cold) that was attacking (no, annihilating) Nina’s blood platelets. The disorder being treated was called Immune Thrombocytopenia, or ITP.
The first IVIg treatment ended several hours later, and by 9 a.m. on Friday morning we were meeting our amazing hematologist, Dr. Sakshi Bami. This woman was absolutely phenomenal, and like our first nurse, she too oozed a passion for helping children. Even better, she guided the room with the most quiet confidence.
Dr. Bami was certain that her diagnosis of ITP was correct, and she was confident this incident was acute — or isolated — in nature. Dr. Bami skillfully guided Adam and I through the long-term game plan with tremendous detail, and she even humored us with our traditional game of 20 Questions. Dr. Bami never once showed signs of annoyance during our Q&A time. She knew how scared we were, and her goal was to build trust with us.
After Dr. Bami left our initial meeting, we had numerous hospital employees check-in on all three of us, not just Nina. Ashley in Client Services visited with me on the (literal) floor of our hospital room while I played with Nina one morning. Ashley’s job was make sure we had all accommodations needed for our stay. She gifted us a bag of toiletries, quarters, and toys for Nina.
We also met Toya, who was our literal sunshine during our stay. Toya regularly came into our room to check on “Sugar Foot,” which was her nickname for Nina. Toya clearly loved her job, so much that she spent a better part of her morning hunting down floor mats and toys for Nina to have during her stay.
We also had a visit from Mark, who we later learned is a Louisiana Tech alumnus. Mark shared plenty of early-morning “Dad Jokes” with Adam, all while attempting a third IV (by way of ultrasound) on Nina, whose tiny veins were simply exhausted from being poked-and-prodded hours earlier. In addition to Chad, Ashley, Toya, Mark, and Dr. Bami, there was a handful of other seasoned professionals, who all shared a common bond: a passion to treat and heal children.
Fortunately, our story has a happy ending. Nina’s case was an “easy” one to diagnose, treat, and resolve. Within 48 hours, we were able to be discharged from Our Lady of the Lake. During our final “exit interview” with Dr. Bami, we were anxious (and grateful) to go back home to Ruston. It was at that moment that a question was asked (and answered) that would forever change our relationship with St. Jude.
“I know this isn’t a ‘doctor questions’ per se,” I said. “I was just wondering if we needed to pay before we leave, or if you would send a bill through the mail.”
Of all of our questions asked, Dr. Bami seemed to like this question the most. Her body language changed. She was excited. She responded, “I do not guess you realize this hospital is an affiliate of St. Jude, do you? Well, it is, and we will not be billing you for this stay.”
She continued to elaborate on the mission of the hospital, but it was immediately met by instant emotion from me and my husband. We were absolutely overcome with emotion.
While we would pay anything to ensure the well-being of our children, we would be lying if we were to pretend that the financial element was not a concern, especially during our “clueless” phase. When Dr. Bami told us the news, no other emotion other than gratitude could be expressed, and we expressed our gratitude with tears, tears, and more tears.
How fortunate are we (and so many others) to have access to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital? How amazing is this organization that hires the best of the best to staff their facilities? How wonderful is it that parents with sick children can have so much valuable support during treatments, both emotionally and financially? If ever there were a cause to support, this one has to be top-of-mind.
If you are capable of donating to this cause, I can testify that your donation will be put to incredible use. This organization is beyond worthy of your support, and trust me — every dollar makes a difference.
While our family has often supported individual fundraisers for St. Jude in the past, we have never been a recurring donor. However, that all changed the day we were discharged from the St. Jude-affiliated hospital. Now (and forever), the O’Neals will be regular, monthly donors towards this cause, and we hope our story will inspire others to join us in fundraising and advocating for the wonderful St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
