Our Story

This is Chloe Cassell. For the past 9 years, she has been a happy and healthy little girl. She loved spending time with her sisters, eating candy, being silly, laughing, playing outside, all the typical little girl things. She and her big sister spend half of their time with their mother, and half of their time with their father, stepmother, and stepsister. Chloe was looking forward to a fun and exciting end of the year. Her father’s wedding was scheduled for November 21st in which Chloe was excited to be a bridesmaid and wear a pretty dress and party with her family. She was excited to then spend Thanksgiving up at Nana’s. From there, she was looking forward to a super exciting Christmas and a week-long ski trip in the New Year.

However, that all changed on November 12, 2021. Just five days after Chloe’s 9th birthday, she went into the hospital, and hasn’t come out since. Chloe was admitted to WakeMed on November 12th with signs of jaundice. Chloe was transferred to Duke Hospital where she was diagnosed with acute liver failure. In the blink of an eye, our healthy little girl was now at the top of the liver transplant list. To say this came completely out of the blue is a drastic understatement. Her extreme ammonia levels in her blood made her confused and extremely agitated – a gut-wrenching sight for any parent. For 10 excruciating days, her family awaited news on what came next. All fun and exciting plans were canceled, and everyone’s focus was entirely on Chloe. On November 21st, we were notified that there was a potential liver donor available. On November 22nd, instead of wearing a pretty dress and dancing around with her family, Chloe donned a hospital gown and underwent a 9-hour long liver transplant operation, and we all held our breaths. Thankfully, the transplant was a success. A temporary sigh of relief. She was expected to be in the hospital for about two weeks post-op while she underwent physical therapy and daily monitoring. Unfortunately, during the weeks following her transplant, Chloe’s blood levels started to decline. Her white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelet levels were all declining and not responding to varying treatments. Her bone marrow biopsy results indicated that Chloe was now also likely suffering from aplastic anemia, a serious blood deficiency caused by bone marrow failure. Even despite this, Chloe was otherwise recovering very well. She was eating and moving around, and just eager to get home. She started to seem like her old self again, until December 6th, when Chloe collapsed from internal bleeding and had to undergo an emergency operation. She has had to start the recovery process all over again and has continued to face hurdle after hurdle, from frequent blood and platelet transfusions, to insulin injections, to procedures to drain fluid from her chest.

Chloe is a fighter, but her journey is just beginning. While we wait to find out if Chloe will need a bone marrow transplant, Chloe will remain at Duke Hospital for the foreseeable future where she will likely spend Christmas and New Year’s. We are now hoping that Chloe can come home by February if all goes well from here on out. Even once Chloe can finally go home, her life will forever be altered. She will not be allowed to attend school for several months and will have to have bloodwork done twice a week, as well as a plethora of other precautions we’ll all have to take to keep her safe. Her medication list is long, and she will be required to take several medications for the rest of her life. Chloe’s new normal will include extensive ongoing medical expenses beyond the immediate expenses associated with her transplant operations and extended hospital stay. We have decided to partner with the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) for assistance with the transplant-related expenses. COTA will stand ready to assist Chloe for the rest of her life. We ask that you please consider donating to COTA for Chloes Crew and help us get our spunky little girl back on her feet.

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.