I sit here tonight, to write about one of the sweetest baby girls I know. Katelyn Devermann. As I write I find myself at a loss of words. (Anyone that knows me well, knows that this is a rare thing.)
Katelyn is a special girl to me because she is the Daughter of my dear friends, Todd and Krystal. They are two of the most wonderful people I know, and I am forever grateful for their support through the years, both personally and professionally.
So I come to you, my blog readers, with a heavy heart. I mentioned in my previous post that today I would be seeing a little girl that has recently been diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia. I wanted to see how Todd and Krystal felt about this before I posted, so now that I have their blessing, here I am.
The past 12 days have been a roller coaster for the Devermann family, as well as their loved ones and friends. During a routine Doctor appointment, Katelyn’s iron levels were being tested. The Doctors became alarmed at her low iron levels, and decided to draw blood that day for more tests. The nest day Todd received a call, asking them to bring Kate in right away. Her blood tests said her hemoglobin & platelate levels were dangerously low and they needed to get her into Children’s Hospital for more testing. Tests were done, and initially they had ruled out Leukemia as well as Aplastic Anemia. For the time being, they were set to run more tests, and stay a little longer and then head home.
This past Friday, Todd and Krystal sat down with their Doctors and were given news that would put any parent into complete shock. The Doctors explained that during their testing they found Kate to have a very rare form of Leukemia.
Kate has Acute Megakaryocytic Leukemia (AMKL). What makes hers so rare is the translocation on chromasomes 1 & 22 — t(1;22). That is where her #1 & #22 chromasomes split and reattached to each other. The t(1;22) is what makes this whole thing so rare. There have only been 40 cases, in recorded medical history, of children with this exact form of Leukemia. There have only been 4 cases recorded in the last 20 years.
When I got the call from Todd on friday night and the email from Krystal, asking me to come and capture some moments of Kate before her first round of Chemo tomorrow, I was in total shock from the news. But I didn’t think twice. I was there the day she was born, and I love this little girl. I feel so honored to have such a wonderful family in my life.
So please keep The Devermann’s in your prayers. Krystal is around 21 weeks pregnant with their second child as well, and they really need all of the support that we can all give.
In the coming days I will be posting more pics from our session and adding additional information for a fund that will be set up in order to help the Devermann’s out with their medical needs, and so on.
I will also be posting information this week on a fundraiser that we will be starting up very soon, to benefit Kate and her Parents. We are still in the works on the details, but we are hoping to have more info this week.
In the meantime, take a look at this sweet angel and think of her in your prayers!
Like I mentioned above, her parents are two of the kindest and most caring people I know. They would give the shirt off of their back if you needed it. I knwo Kate would too 
If anyone would like to donate to Kate’s cause, please contact me and I will direct you to the proper contact for the time being. If anyone has any ideas or thoughts to share, please feel free to contact me as well.
Good night and God Bless!
