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!!!

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.

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.

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.

Round 3 Begins

After getting to spend some time at home with her toys and her pet kitty cat, Allison has returned to the hospital for round 3 of chemo. We anticipated this visit, so it did not come as a surprise when we got the call from her doctor.

Because she is in a partial remission, Allison requires more treatment to prepare her for a future bone marrow transplant. In order to have the best outcome possible, she will need to be in a full remission for the transplant to take place. A bone marrow match for Allison has not yet been found, so the extensive search continues. We recently found out that she has a unique antigen(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigen) which makes it slightly more difficult to find an exact match for her. We know the match is out there...somewhere!

While this treatment plan will last only 4 days(4 hours each day) it will be 8-10 times stronger than her previous treatments. At this point we are not sure of how she will react to this new dosage, but we hope and pray that she will suprise her nurses and doctor once again.

Allison is in fantastic spirits today! Let's hope this continues!

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers for Allison - I know they're working!

Please Keep Checking!

I must apologize! It's been entirely too long since I've posted an update on Allison's progress. I'm working on a fun post that includes information on Allison, more pictures, and a FANTASTIC video!

Allison was doing so well after Round 2 of chemo, that her doctor gave her the green light to head home this week. We don't know how long this visit will be, but we are enjoying being home as a complete family.

We're not quite sure what the next step will be because we are awaiting results from her bone marrow test, results should be in next week. The search is still on for a marrow match for her! If you have not already signed up for the National Bone Marrow Registry, please consider doing so! You just might save a life! Please follow this link to register by mail: www.join.marrow.org/friends2allison

Thank you all for your support and continued thoughts and prayers as we continue on this journey.

Warmest Regards,

Allison's Mommy

Save the Date: Sunday, September 27

Join Top of the Mountain for a bone marrow drive in honor of Allison Zicree on Sunday, September 27th! From 9 a.m. - Noon and resuming at 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Rolling Hills United Methodist Church
26438 Crenshaw Blvd
Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274
(310) 377-6771

Bone Marrow Drive Success!

Thank you to everyone that attened the bone marrow drive at American Martyrs in Manhattan Beach! We had a total of 78 wonderful people that joined the registry on Sunday. Special thanks to Auntie Vaness and Uncle Ricky for representing the Zicrees, and Stephanie and Lori (and her rockstar team) from Be a Match. Also, Team Allison would like to thank Ann Karner for hosting us.

Coming up next...

Kimberly Haim's Home

Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills

What a busy month! Join us for another blood drive!

For anyone who was unable to attend the blood drive and marrow testing in July, Kaiser Permanent in Woodland Hills will be hosting another drive on Saturday, August 22, 2009 from 10am - 7pm. We hope to see you there!

Save the Date: Saturday, August 29th

Seating is limited, please purchase tickets in advance.

If you're interested in purchasing tickets and/or donating items for the silent auction, please contact Leah Ventimiglia for more information: 818.620.8454 or LSV1979@aol.com.

Save the Date: Sunday, August 16th

Kimberly Haim will be hosting a Bone Marrow Drive on Sunday, August 16th, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at her home in Sherman Oaks. If you haven't registered yet to be a bone marrow donor, here is your chance! Visit Kimberly and City of Hope at:

13470 Weddington Street
Sherman Oaks, CA 91401

Don't forget that American Martyrs will be having a drive this Sunday in Manhattan Beach!

Round 2 of Chemo almost complete!

Tomorrow is the final day of round 2 of chemo for Little Miss Allison. She has sailed through this session like a superstar! Inside her little body the chemotherapy is doing EXACTLY what it is supposed to do. On the outside she is acting every bit the toddler she is meant to be! She has learned the power of shaking her head "no"(but does not 'abuse' it!). She has mastered the art of making doggy sounds, clacking her tongue, and contorting her face into the perfect kissy fish face! She has taken 7 steps all on her own and now dances like Annette Funicello in Beach Blanket Bingo. Speaking of Annette...she even got her first pair of Mickey(Minnie) ears! Thanks Toni & Eric!

Although she is in good spirits overall, this round of chemo has brought more sleepiness, neediness(for extra snuggles), and fussiness that we've never endured before. She has been one tough cookie and is still surprising her doctor with her tenacity and happy-go-lucky attitude.

From the doctor:
“Allison has had a favorable response to the first course of chemotherapy for acute megakaryocytic leukemia,” says Susan K. Storch, MD, Chief of Pediatric Oncology at Kaiser Permanente’s Woodland Hills Medical Center.

“Her bone marrow examination results demonstrate a partial remission and she has now begun the next phase of chemotherapy. It is hoped that she will achieve a full remission in preparation for a bone marrow transplant, if a matched donor is found,” Dr. Storch continued.

-----------------------

The search for a bone marrow match still continues. Thank you again to all those who participated in the drive at Kaiser Woodland Hills, and at subsequent drives around Southern California. The results from the drive(WH) should be put into the National Bone Marrow registry any day now and matched against Allison's type. Hopefully we will know more in the coming weeks!

August is going to be a busy month! Please check back tomorrow for updates on SFV area drives and even a fundraiser!

Warmest Regards,

Nicole - Allison's Mommy

Touching Hearts

This is an e-mail that went out from a lady that does not know the Zicrees, but was touched by Allison's story.

I don't ever want to forget yesterday...July 16, 2009 at 10:17am
...when I went to Kaiser to register with the National marrow Donor Program.

Where I joined hundreds of people, from all walks of life, gentlemen in suits on their way home from work, young people coming in from a day at the the beach (still with the fresh scent of sunscreen), mothers with their babies in tow. All waiting, patiently no less, for their turn to be tested, to see if they could be a match for little Allison a 14 month old girl, whose family is hoping a match can be found. Giving Allison a chance at a healthy happy long life.

It was surreal and beautiful, to be among these people. Basking in the generosity of spirit in the room. The quiet knowing that everyone was there to offer something so simple and yet so precious. Something we have no appreciation for, unless we need it.

Her uncle came into the room, to register himself and stood before the crowd, thanking us all for taking the time to do this. He said it meant everything to their family. That Allison is their heart and the only girl in their lives. They are hoping and praying for a miracle and one of us could be just that.

Its a one in a 200,000 chance that I will be her match. What's important is that we find a match. For Allison and countless others waiting for the same miracle.

My test results will go into the national registry where for the next ten years (you can only donate until your 60) people who need marrow can search for a match. Not just Allison, but anyone else who needs it.

This was a simple reminder about how precious life is and how grateful I am to be living here on planet earth able to recognize the goodness that surrounds me. Life is good.

For more information or to get registered: visit www.marrow.org

What is Allison up to?

Well this has been a busy week for little Miss Allison! As her mom, I'm proud to say that she has reached some fun and some interesting new milestones over the past few days! She was also able to have some 'pint-sized visitors' last week, which included cousins Bailey, Isabelle, and Daniel; friend Jamieson; and buddy Madison. She was so excited to get some playtime with people close to her size. She has also learned a few new words: blue, book, and WOW!

She is still a late-night party animal, but she's been taking more naps during the day - boy am I thankful for that! She caught up on current events, became an honorary member of the nursingg staff, and yesterday we had fun with stickers on her head. Today she received a balloon flower and a balloon rainbow (see below for pictures), she had so much fun with that! She even rearranged furniture(for reading time w/grandpa) in the playroom while using her new talent - WALKING!

Her newest (and quite possibly the coolest) trick is swabbing her own mouth. Several times a day we are required to swab Allison's mouth with a medicated mouthwash to prevent sores from the chemo. This proved to be an arduous task for all of us! It had to be done, so we did it, through the kicking and the tears. Now Allison has taken the task into her own hands. Tonight she dipped the sponge in the wash and swabbed her own mouth!

They say pictures are worth a thousand words, so please scroll down to see what Allison has been up to!

Pint Sized Visitor

Allison finally got the okay from Dr. Storch to have a pint sized visitor. That visitor being my daughter. We went shopping for a gift, and of course, Daisy Duck was picked for Allison. So we headed over to the hosptial, and the girls spent a few hours together, playing, laughing, hugging and giving kisses. It was a happy day.

Nicole reminded me that almost a year ago to the day the girls had a breakfast date, which this picture was taken after.

Thanks to CBS47!

Sabrina Hill from CBS 47 is Fresno e-mailed us that she covered Allison story. You can check it out here! Thanks Sabrina!

Thanks FOX11!

Allison is Miss Popular today. Thanks to FOX11 for sharing Allison's story with everyone! Read about it here, and catch the story on the 10 p.m. news! Thanks Hal Eisner!

Thanks to ABC7!

ABC 7 did an amazing story on Allison today during the afternoon news. Check it out here! Thanks Denise Dador!