Savannah’s Story

Savannah has a fun, quirky style, a dry sense of humor, and a love of anime art. She enjoys spending time with her friends. In fact, during her recent hospital stay in Atlanta, she was surrounded by a group of friends who came to visit and keep her spirits high.

In 2015, Savannah’s pediatrician was concerned about her high white cell count during her twelve-year well visit. She ordered further tests, and Savannah was eventually diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)—a rare cancer, especially in children. She began a treatment of chemotherapy pills and thrived. Sadly, Savannah began having problems in December 2017 that led to an additional diagnosis: she now has CML as well as symptoms of ALL and AML, two forms of acute leukemia. This new diagnosis sent Savannah into a six-week hospital stay in Atlanta, where she endured daily treatments and scans. She also had to cope with new aspects of her disease like IV chemo, hair loss, trouble walking, and even a bout with pneumonia.

Savannah is glad to be back home in Macon, where she is currently undergoing maintenance chemo. Doctors are preparing her body for a bone marrow transplant within the next two to three months. She has a long road ahead of her. Savannah’s mother, Christina, says, “It would be so hard to do this without Jay’s HOPE. We would have done it, but my biggest relief was knowing that there were people who understood what we were going through and could help.” The family appreciates gas and meal cards and other forms of assistance.

Their favorite Jay’s HOPE events are the motorcycle ride fundraiser, Hawgs 4 HOPE (benefitting our named fund, Heather’s Heroes), and Camp HOPE, our annual week-long summer day camp for Jay’s HOPE kids and their siblings, like Savannah’s thirteen-year-old sister Maggie.

When you come to the Blind Wine Tasting, you will spend the evening tasting wines, enjoying appetizers and live music, and bidding on silent auction items. At the same time, you will help families like Savannah’s. As her mom Christina says, “When you get put into this category that you never wanted and never asked for, to have an arms-wide-open cancer family to support you is more than anybody could ever ask for.”

Thank you for helping us make our Jay’s HOPE family even stronger!

To find out more about our upcoming Blind Wine Tasting, click here.