Lindsay (Wenzel) Lopez grew up in New Berlin, WI. A 1997 graduate of New Berlin Eisenhower High School. She married Jason Lopez and they had a daughter, Olivia. They were the typical American family- just working, living life and having fun. On September 21, 2009, all that changed. Lindsay was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Thus began a journey that nobody ever prepares for…
Chemo, numerous medical complications, transfusions, biopsies, months of hospital stays. Since the Doctors knew she needed a Bone Marrow Transplant, the search for a marrow donor began. Her daughter’s school sponsored a marrow donor drive, and we participated in another donor drive in the Milwaukee area. Being an only child, a sibling match was not an option, so the National Marrow Donor Program “Be The Match” started a search to find the one person in the world that would match… That donor was found in Germany. On June 23, 2010 Lindsay received this life-giving transplant at Froedtert Hospital. The tireless work of the Transplant Team, Doctors, Nurses, technicians and many people behind the scenes helped her recover to return home 5 weeks later. Still weeks of care, countless Doctor visits and finally 3 months later a bone marrow biopsy that showed the leukemia was gone. Hope was restored for a full recovery. A 32nd Birthday celebration was in order.
Several weeks later, Lindsay started feeling ill again and more tests were done. The results… the leukemia had returned.
Re-admitted to the hospital, strong chemo treatments began again. A month of relentless treatments to fight the evil cancer cells and infections. On Nov 22nd, 2010 Lindsay lost her battle against Leukemia.
She fought every step of the way with the heart of a Warrior. Not complaining, just accepting and tolerating whatever procedure she had to endure.
While a cure was not to be for Lindsay, we continue to fight to find a cure for this evil disease that is not exclusive – it strikes suddenly and devastates people of any age. Not only affecting the patient, but changing the lives of everyone around them.
In 2000, Lindsay’s 1st job after college was working at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, as an administrative assistant in the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Dept. Little did we know, that 10 yrs later we would be praying for a bone marrow donor to save her life. We are so blessed here in SE Wisconsin to have the World-Class medical facilities we do! Children’s Hospital, Medical College of Wisconsin, CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research), Blood Center of Wisconsin , Froedtert Hospital among them. Until you have a medical emergency, you may never appreciate the quality of care we have in our backyard. We met people who come from other states and countries to get treated here…. The Medical professionals we met on a daily basis are truly angels here on earth. Words cannot begin to express our gratitude for their compassion and care for Lindsay.
It is with this in mind that we have started this organization to raise awareness for Leukemia, Lymphomas, blood Cancers and raise funds to support patient services and on-going research locally through the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society of WI, Blood Center of Wisconsin, BeTheMatch, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research). Lindsay’s Voice, Inc is registered as a non-profit public charity in Wisconsin and is recognized as a 501(c)3 tax exempt non-profit. Tax ID 38-3894820.
We humbly ask for your help…
Karen and Gene Wenzel
(Lindsay’s Parents)
