Maryelle’s mom can’t talk about her baby girl without a giant smile spreading across her face. She describes this fiery child as “the life of the party.”
She beams as she tells you about Maryelle coming out of her shell and rapidly becoming all personality.
But there was a moment when time stood still for Maryelle.
Maryelle has a life-threatening immunodeficiency called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and is a patient of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Families, like Maryelle's, will never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food.
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When she was just five months old, Maryelle spiked a relentless fever. Her pediatrician noted her tugging at her ear and started her on a round of antibiotics for what seemed like a simple ear infection.
When her symptoms worsened, her parents’ intuition took over and they rushed her back to her doctor for bloodwork. What was revealed was worse than they feared. All her counts were dangerously low and within days they had a diagnosis of a severe immunodeficiency.
Thankfully, Maryelle and her family were referred to St. Jude, where doctors placed her on a treatment plan that included chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant with her mom serving as her donor.
Maryelle also underwent physical, occupational and speech therapies to help get her back on track for meeting her milestones.
You hear families never have to pay a bill, but until we got here and saw it ... I would tell my family and friends all the time, ‘It’s amazing that you don't have to worry about your meals, your treatment, your lodging.' It’s amazing.
Meet more patients
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Meet Avery
Avery was diagnosed with sickle cell disease soon after birth and she received a bone marrow transplant at St. Jude in early 2023. Her donor was one of her older sisters.
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Meet Misheel
Misheel was diagnosed with brain cancer and was referred to St. Jude, where she has received treatment, which included chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She has refused to let her illness keep her from spreading joy to others.
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Meet Janelle
When Janelle was just over a year old, her family noticed that she began to regress in her development. Medical tests revealed that Janelle had cancer.
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Meet Yazleemar
Yazleemar is an outgoing and expressive teenager. In 2012, Yazleemar was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare cancer. St. Jude offered more than treatment to her and her family.
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Meet Gideon
After Gideon was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, he was referred to St. Jude for immediate treatment.
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Meet Felicity
With a diagnosis of 5 tumors in her brain and spine, Felicity is facing a struggle, but you wouldn't know it by the constant smile on her face.
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Meet Charlie
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Meet Ava
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Meet Kamryn
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Meet Eliza
Eliza’s pediatrician referred her to an ophthalmologist after testing her eyes. In turn, she was referred to St. Jude as a tumor was visible in her right eye.
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Meet Rinoa
Rinoa had an MRI due to headaches and, later, double vision. Doctors found a cancerous brain tumor called medulloblastoma and was soon referred to St. Jude.
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Meet Adalyn
Adalyn had stomachaches that came and went with episodes of severe pain. At the ER, doctors found a large mass above her kidney, stage-4 high-risk neuroblastoma.
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Meet Braxton
Braxton was discovered to have a brain tumor at just 6 weeks old, with more scary news to follow. But St. Jude has given this family a lot to look forward to.
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Meet Chance
Chance was diagnosed with metastatic medulloblastoma. After surgery, referred to St. Jude, he received chemotherapy and proton therapy treatments to his brain and spine.