SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – A family in the South Bay is hoping for a miracle as their daughter bravely battles a rare disease.
Last September, six-year-old Kalea Ramos was diagnosed with mixed phenotype leukemia: two forms of leukemia combined, acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Kalea is now in need of a bone marrow transplant.
“You think hearing the cancer diagnoses is the hardest and then hearing they have rare cancer,” said Kalea’s mother, Angie Ramos.
Cancer cells were found in Kalea’s spinal fluid. Her brother and sister were not bone marrow matches.
Seventy-seven percent of cancer patients do not have fully matched family donors. “The hardest thing for me so far was having to tell the kids they were not a match because they both want to help their sister,” said Angie.
Kalea said she misses being a kid and going to the pool and the beach.
The Ramos family has turned to Be the Match Registry – the national marrow donor program to find a donor. Kalea’s mixed race, Asian and Caucasian, makes it harder to find a donor with a similar ethnic background.
“She is special. I don’t want her to have the cancer,” said Kalea’s older sister, Keanna Ramos.
Kalea said her siblings help her take a pill and help with her dressing change.
Despite aggressive chemo and spending 60 days on and off in the hospital, the best medicine for Kalea has been her siblings.
Kalea believes that with the right donor, she will beat the cancer. “I believe I can beat it. I believe in magic."
Kalea believes in magic, and believes you should, too.
To support Kalea in her fight against cancer, visit her Facebook page.
You can also join the Be the Match Registry to be listed as a potential blood stem cell donor online.