Adrienne’s positive energy and smile light up every room she enters. Right away, you wouldn’t know that Adrienne lives with chronic pain and has spent countless nights in the hospital fighting complications from Sickle Cell Anemia, an inherited group of blood disorders that causes the red blood cells to form in a sickle shape. Diagnosed at birth, Adrienne doesn’t know any other way of life and is very comfortable navigating pain meds, hospitalizations, and ER visits – but her mom just wants her to be a typical teenager.
“Adrienne is very active in church and loves to sing and dance,” laughs her mom, Gisele. “Her cousins and siblings are her best friends, and she loves to go to school when she can and hang out with her friends at church. But ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation is our backbone, and the staff and other ASK families are our extended family. They feed us emotionally, spiritually and physically in the good times and the bad. I truly don’t know what we would do without them!”
Gisele describes the time that Adrienne spent more than 15 days on a ventilator as “the most devastating time in [her] life,” but ASK’s financial support allowed her to stay in the hospital with her daughter, providing meals and paying some bills so that Gisele could focus on Adrienne. When Adrienne is feeling well, she loves to participate in ASK’s many family events and programs, like camps, Flying Squirrels games, trips to the zoo, and ASK’s annual Holiday Party.
“ASK is always here for our family and provides anything we need, even furniture. If they don’t have it, they can find it!" - Gisele, Adrienne's mom
"From the time Adrienne was two and participated in the ASK preschool program and all through her journey, ASK has provided for us, cared for us, and educated us on Sickle Cell,” Gisele continues. “This has empowered me to be an advocate in my community to raise awareness about the disease.”
“ASK changes lives for families who are going through horrific ordeals, whether it’s Sickle Cell Anemia or childhood cancer. They let the child be a child, despite their circumstances. Sickle Cell affects every major organ in the body and is not for the weak. Thankfully, ASK is our partner and will never leave us. We are family for life!”