Join the bone marrow registry from ANYWHERE around the globe!

You could be the ONE!

Although a drive is being held tomorrow in Woodland Hills, CA in memory of Allison's life, journey, and battle against leukemia, you can participate from anywhere around the globe! Please consider becoming a member of the National Bone Marrow Registry/Be The Match and give the gift of life. When you sign up online, you will receive your test kit in the mail to the address you provide. Once you receive it, simply follow the instructions, swipe four swabs along the inside of your mouth, pack it up and send it back in the envelope provided. How easy is that?!?!?

Why should you do it?
Because thousands of patients with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases depend on the Be The Match Registry^® to find a match to save their life. You may never be called as a match for someone, but you may be just the ONE to save the life of a baby, child or adult. Patients need donors who are a genetic match. Even with a registry of millions, many patients cannot find a match even within their own family. Donors with diverse racial or ethnic backgrounds are especially needed.

What does it mean to be on the registry?
You can find answers to several, if not all, of your questions by following this link:
http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/FAQs_about_Joining_the_Registry/index.html

Myths and facts about donating bone marrow:
This may also be of interest to some when making a decision:
http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Myths_%26_Facts_about_Marrow_Don/index.html

How can I join online?
Once you have decided to join, you can sign up to receive your kit by following this link:

http://join.marrow.org/AllisonsGift

Follow the onscreen instructions and enter promo code: AllisonsGift when prompted. The online registry is active May 12 – June 30, 2010.

Give the Gift of Life! Join us for a special Blood & Bone Marrow Registration drive in honor of Allison's Birthday!

On what would be Allison's 2nd birthday, May 13, 2010, our family, along with Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills, will be hosting a blood drive and bone marrow registration drive to celebrate her life and memory. It is our hope and prayer that we will be able to continue to carry on the spirit of our daughter. Join us as we celebrate Allison's life, her memory, and continue her legacy. Together we CAN save lives!!! Please join us for this special event! While you may have already joined the bone marrow registry, you can also donate much needed blood and platelets.
When: Thursday, May 13, 2010/ 10am - 6:30pm
Where: Kaiser Permanente Blood Donor Center - 5601 De Soto Avenue, Woodland Hills, CA, Entrance 4, Lower Level (818) 719 4329

Our personal experience tells us that it just takes one person to save a life. Out of the over 13 million people on the Bone Marrow Registry, there was one, single perfect match for Allison. Unfortunately her disease took over and she was unable to receive her transplant. Help us find a perfect match for patients who are waiting! It could be YOU!!! Last year, almost 2000 people joined the National Bone Marrow registry in her honor. It was such a gift to know that at least one patient found the marrow match they needed to save their life due to one of the several drives held in Allison's honor.

During her treatment she required several blood transfusions and platelet infusions, it was because of the generosity of friends, family and strangers that she was able to receive exactly what she needed, when she needed it. Many patients have to wait precious moments for blood or platelets when needing a transfusion. These moments can mean the difference between life and death. When you donate blood you are helping at least 3 people in need. If you're unable to attend our event, please consider donating when you are able at Kaiser or any donor center close to your location.

Patients with leukemia and other life-threatening blood disorders need bone marrow donors who are a very close or exact genetic match. The chance of finding a family member who is a match is just 1 in 25. And even with a registry of over 13 million, only about 50% of patients ever find a non-family member donor match. The unbelievable fact is, that there is only a 2% chance that bone marrow registrant will ever be called!

Donors of all diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds are needed. Those with a varied ethnic background are also in great demand. Adding more potential donors from all racial and ethnic backgrounds to the registry increases the likelihood that all patients will find the match they so desperately need. Let's make sure no patient ever has to wait for the procedure that could save their life! It's so easy to join! All it takes is 4 swabs from the inside of your mouth!

For more information, please visit www.BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2.

Please feel free to print and share this flyer with others!!!

A Beautiful Tribute to Allison's Life and Memory

We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to Lisa Sigell, health reporter for CBS2 / KCAL 9 for creating such a wonderful tribute to Allison. She created a touching and inspiring piece that paid tribute to Allison's life, her fight, and to her memory. Thank you for sharing her story once again and for helping us continue to carry her message.

Please click the link below to read the story and see the piece that originally aired on Thursday evening, February 25, 2010. It also aired on the daytime newscasts on Friday, February 26, 2010.

http://cbs2.com/health/allison.zicree.bone.2.1521619.html

Continuing to Carry Allison's Message

It has been our hope and prayer that we would be able to continue to carry on the spirit of our daughter. In her short life, she inspired people and called many to action. In her honor, many bone marrow drives have been held. Just last week, a bone marrow registry drive was held in her memory and 49 more people signed up! We know of at least one life that was saved because a bone marrow donor match was found for a patient during a drive held in Allison's honor last summer. What a gift! She has called us into action and we will continue her fight to help save others!

We hope that her story will continue to help others find their donor match. Statistics show that approximately 10, 000 people are found in need of marrow matches each year, however, only about 50% ever find the match they need. Across the globe there are about 12 million registrants on the National Bone Marrow Registry, it only takes one match to be the change for a patient and their family. You could be that miracle! Please visit: www.bethematch.org to learn more about registering as a bone marrow donor. You can also learn more about the entire process by visiting that site.

On what would be Allison's 2nd birthday, May 13, 2010(8:30am - 8pm) our family, along with Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills(CA), will be hosting a blood drive and bone marrow registration drive to celebrate her life & memory. We hope that those who are able to, choose to participate. Please keep checking here for more information as the date gets closer. The drive will be held at Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills, 5601 De Soto Ave. We hope to see you there!

We miss her every single day, but our hearts are warmed by stories that you share with us about your memories of Allison. We still hurt, but by continuing to live the fighting spirit that she so wonderfully embodied, we are able to continue in our lives by facing each day and each new challenge in her memory. We thank each and every one of you for your thoughts, prayers, and love for our family. We appreciate it more than words can express.

With love,
Allison's Mommy & Daddy

Allison's Song

Bekken is a local musician who is a also a friend of the family. She was so touched and inspired by Allison's fight against Leukemia, that she was moved to write her song Prayer. It wasn't until the week before Allison's [almost sudden] passing that the song was completed. The first time we were able to hear it was at Allison's service in October, and we were in absolute awe. She was able to capture so much of our journey in her music. Bekken...we thank you for sharing your talent and your work with us.

Please take a listen! Jennifer Ozuna, Allison's cousin created this slide show with some of the family's favorite pictures to celebrate Allison's life and battle with Leukemia.

Bekken can be found on Myspace at: www.myspace.com/bekken or become a fan on Facebook. To listen to samples of her other songs, please find her on iTunes.

Wow! It has been quite awhile...

What a time it has been! We've gone through many different emotions and had new and different life experiences over the last two and a half months. There have been ups and downs like we have never experienced before. Grief is a very strange animal. It can take many different forms and can have unexpected effects. Sometimes it ravages every ounce of your being, others it can snuggle you and be oddly comforting. There are times it can stop you dead in your tracks and keep you from doing anything at all, and other times it can be a great motivator. The hardest part is, that it is so unpredictable.

The holidays were extremely difficult. This is a time for family and a time where children are celebrated. It was different for our family this year. We had to find new things to fill our days and nights. And although we only had Allison for one Christmas holiday, we were able to build wonderful memories in 2008. We definitely mourned not being able to share with her again in 2009. What we did have though, was one another. Shaun and I leaned on each other for support, love, and kindness. We were able to share our happiest memories of Allison with each other and through the tears came laughter. I am extremely grateful for Shaun's love and support. We looked at each other on New Year's day and realized we had survived the holiday season...if not by the very skin of our teeth. We lived to share our experience.

In the new year, we've continued on our path of growing our marriage and working through the pain of losing our only daughter. It has yet to get easier, and what's even stranger is that as time goes on it only becomes more confusing. Why this is, I'm not sure. But in order to get past it, I must walk through it. I put one foot in front of the other and do each day as it comes. Sometimes that just means putting one foot in front of the other to get to the couch and snuggle with a movie and my favorite blanket. Other times, one step at a time means getting ready and leaving the house for a full day of errands and lunch with friends to keep my spirits up. The most important thing is allowing myself to do what I need to do to keep me living life, and just being nice to myself.

None of this is easy. Even I can't find the words to describe the emotional roller coaster. Of course there are days when I laugh(at least a little every day! :) ) and I cry a little almost everyday. It's ok. I hope that if I let the feelings hit me and I ride the wave when it comes, that it WILL get easier or at least a little softer in time. Only time will tell.....

Until next time,

Nicole - Allison's Mommy

P.S.

We have some new things in the works! Come back next week to find out what it is!!! ;)

One Day At A Time....

Where are we now?

Today we are living life one moment at a time. The pain is still incredibly intense, but instead of immobilizing our entire days, it comes and goes throughout the day - sometimes without warning. We think of Allison constantly and memories of her love and laughter help to bring smiles through our tears.

Wouldn't you know? The world continues to spin and life goes on without any of our say-so. We try to put one foot in front of the other, get dressed and show up for life each and everyday. It's certainly not easy, but I definitely prefer that over the alternative.

The amount of support we have recieved from our friends, family, and the community around us has been truly incredible. We are so grateful and would like to take the time to thank each and every one of you personally, and at some point we promise we will. Emails, phone calls, and cards are so helpful in remembering we are loved and cared for. We have been able to walk through each day because of your continued love & support, because of our love for one another, and because of our ever-growing faith.

What do we do now? Neither of us knows. We are taking this time to do some soul searching and figure out what to do with the rest of our lives. At the very least we can try to figure out what to do this week.

Our Angel Earned Her Wings

Allison Danielle Zicree

May 13, 2008 - October 17, 2009

On Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 7:35pm we said goodbye to Allison and she grew her angel wings. Allison was surrounded by friends and family throughout the day who came to share their love and support and to say goodbye. We are so grateful that she was able to spend her final day on earth this way. Shaun and I are so blessed to have the support system that we do. When we we made our way to the waiting room that night, we saw that our family and friends set up camp and were right beside us every step of the way and would have stayed as long as it took for Allison to take her final breath.

She definitely fought long and hard against her disease, but it eventually grew bigger then her and stronger than the medicine used to fight it. After her second round of chemo she had 8% leukemic blasts(a 'partial' remission is 5 - 13%). The third round of chemo was no match for AML M7 and after her marrow draw on 10/15, we learned that the leukemia came back with a vegence and attacked over 95% of her little body. Her immune system was so comprised that it was unable to fight off the fever that caused her to become so sick, this coupled with the bloating(caused by cancer cells accumulating in her organs), proved to be too much. Further testing found that there were blood clots in her arteries and liver. At this point, she became so sick that she may have never been well enough to go for a bone marrow transplant.

Unfortunately, had she been in 'good' health and in a solid remission after the third round of chemo, she would have been headed to City of Hope on November 2 for her bone marrow transplant. One, single, solitary perfect match had been found for her out of the 13 million people on the National Bone Marrow Registry. This just reinforces my fight to add more people to the NBMR. I know that Allison's fight called over 2000 people to the registry, but I will continue to fight for others who need this life saving procedure. Behind each patient is a family fighting for their loved one. If you haven't already, please consider joining the registry. I was amazed to learn how simple the donation procedure really is! There are two options to give life to another, one is surgical and the other is similar to donating blood and takes only 6 hours and you're back to life as usual!

While our heart aches everyday for the loss of Allison's life and our future with her, we know that she is no longer in pain and now gets to be a fun loving, rambunctious child again running around in heaven. Our lives have been forever changed because we were blessed to be her parents and because we got to experience her love, strength, and innocence. Allison...we love you dearly and we thank you for making us better people.

Love,

Nicole & Shaun

Letters from Allison's Parents:

Dear Allison:

When you were born you changed my life forever. You showed me the beauty in the world. You became the shining light in my life. You got me through the bad days. No matter how bad my day was, it was all ok when I saw you.

You taught me to be a better man.

I will always remember all the time you were here. It was the best time in my life.

I miss the times I would start to fall asleep and you would stand up and jump up and down like a bear while saying: “HI” to wake me up and how you would sleep with your foot pressed against my back. .

I am so sorry for what you had to go through, but you went through it like no one else. Whatever life threw at you, you took it and smiled anyway.

I am so honored to be your father. You are the greatest little girl I’ve ever known.

When you passed away, a part of my heart died as well. You will always be a part of me. I hope you are falling back on clouds and laughing like you used to do in our big bed.

I miss you and I will always love you with all my heart.

Dad

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Dear Allison,

I cannot say enough about how proud I am to be your mother. Before this journey started I used to say that I felt blessed that you were a part of our life. As I started to see the impact you had on had on others and the world around you, I began to realize how blessed I was to be a part of YOUR life. I was always in awe of how you made each and every person you came into contact with feel special. You have touched the world in a way that I never knew possible. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to see you make an impact.

You have done so much in your 17 months on this planet and you inspire me. You inspire me to be a better person and your fortitude gives me the strength to want to change the world too. You gave the fight of your life, never backing down….even at the very end, and I feel honored to have been with you every step of the way.

I will forever treasure the fun times we shared together, strolling through the market, the mall, a any other place that we could play. Hospital hallway hide and seek became one of my favorite activities and running around on the third floor bridge after dark was always a great way to burn some toddler-sized energy. Even though you had only a few clear words at the beginning of this journey – your ever growing vocabulary astounded me! I will always hold dear the late night conversations we had as you fell asleep in my arms and how the first thing you would do in the morning was pry my eye open with your tiny fingers and say “HI!”. I will always smile when I think about you giving yourself a round of applause when you did something you were proud of and when you knew we were excited for you. When you said “NO” it always made me giggle, I love the way you would shake your head and say it with such fervor. I have to admit, I sometimes asked you questions or offered you things just so I could hear you say NO, and just because it made my heart giggle too.

What a smart cookie!!! At such a young age you had a thirst for knowledge that was exceptional. I was always amazed when you learned a new word and knew how put it to good use. I so enjoyed watching you figure out how things worked, how to take them apart, and even put them back together!!! I don’t know how much you understood, but it sure looked like you know what you were doing as you turned the pages in your colorful books and put pen to paper. Your smile and laughter warms my heart every day and I thank God for every second we shared together.

I don’t always understand why life takes the turns it does, but what I do know is that you changed my heart and my soul and made me a stronger, more faithful woman. Because of your strength I know there’s nothing I can’t conquer. Thank you for being a wonderful daughter, incredible teacher, and an inspiration. I thank God everyday for giving me the chance to be your mother and for blessing my life by giving you to me as my daughter, even for a short while.

I love you with all my heart and soul, to the ends of the universe and back, and I will forever be changed because I love you.

Love,

Your Mom

the latest info

Allison's condition has taken a turn for the worse. Her fever was not due to infection as previously thought, but was part of the leukemia disease. The cancer has affected her entire body causing her liver and spleen to become severely enlarged.

On Thursday evening she was transported to pediatric ICU at a different facility for further evalution. Several tests were run over the time we were there, which found that she has several complications.

We've now returned to her original hospital where further decisions will be made about her care. Please keep her, our family, and her care team in your thoughts and prayers.

In appreciation of your love and concern, please know that we will not be accepting visitors at this time. If you are interested in visiting the family, please contact Ricky B. at: [info removed]

With Love,

Allison's Mommy & Daddy

Donations for Allison

Tax deductable Donations for Allison can now be made through, Top of the Mountain:

Top of the Mountain Children's Disease Foundation
P.O. Box 4752
Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA 90274

Donations can also be made online by visiting: http://www.topofthemountain.org/friends_Team_Allison.html

**Please make sure to write Allison Zicree on the "Memo Line" on your check or in the info section on paypal.

What a week!

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers for our daughter. We've had a challenging few weeks, but it looks like we may be coming out of it, slowly but surely.

The effects of Allison's third round of chemo took over last week. As expected, her white blood cell count dropped dramatically, which made her neutropenic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutropenic). This means that she is at a point in this cycle where she is susceptible to infections and other contagious illnesses. During her first two rounds of chemotherapy Allison managed to sail through this point in her treament, however this time the chemo was approximately 10x stronger and it's taking its toll.

Since last Tuesday we have been fighting a fever that has stayed between 101°F and 104.5°F, neither medication nor cooling measures cooled her for very long. This has been coupled with nausea and a severe loss in appetite. Allison has been unable to rest comfortably(day or night) and has had a difficult time moving on her own, so she and mom are totally sleep deprived. Along with her fever, she is experiencing edema/water retenion all over her body. The majority of the swelling is in her belly and that is due in part to low protein levels. She is receiving treatment to reduce the swelling, but it is a slow process. She has required platelet transfusions daily and has had a few blood transfusions this week as well.

Her fever stayed close to 100°F for most of the day, and today was the first time she has nibbled anything in about a week - we were so excited! She was chatty for a little bit, watched some Sesame Street, and managed to pull herself into a sitting position at one point. These are the things that give us little glimpses of our old Allison and hope that recovery from this round of chemo is just around the corner. Please keep our little girl in your thoughts as she continues to push through this phase.