Flushing Candy Co Hosting Fundraiser For Local Teen Battling Cancer

Flushing Candy Co is stepping up to help a Flushing teen as she battles cancer. Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 20th, for every ice cream sold between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM, half of all proceeds will be donated to Makenzie Thompson. Flushing Candy Co will also be selling #kenziestrong suckers as well. The suckers are $5 dollars, and one hundred percent of sucker sales will go to Mackenzie as well (suckers are cash only).

On March 12th, Makenzie was experiencing shortness of breath. Her mother Jeanette, took her to her primary care doctor under the assumption it was her asthma. It had nothing to do with asthma. Unfortunately, a few days later she was diagnosed with Acute T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma (ALL). I am not familiar with ALL, so I looked it up.

ALL is a fast-growing blood cancer. It’s also called acute lymphocytic leukemia or acute lymphoid leukemia. In ALL, the body makes abnormal lymphocytes, a type of blood cell, in the bone marrow.

Bone marrow is the soft, spongy tissue inside bones. It makes red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell and part of the immune system. Abnormal lymphocytes don’t fight infections very well. They also grow quickly and crowd out the bone marrow. This prevents it from making normal cells your body needs.

Since her diagnosis, Makenzie has undergone multiple tests, biopsies, and procedures more than any fourteen year old should endure. Chemotherapy is being administered intravenously and also directly in her spinal cord into her central nervous system to help shrink the tumors. She is unable to receive any sort of sedation medications whatsoever due to the location of the mass. This makes these procedures excruciatingly painful. Unfortunately, additional masses have been found throughout her body. This is going to be a tremendously long journey for Makenzie and Jeanette. The doctors estimate that she will continue treatments for at least 3 years.

I cannot even imagine how this young girl is dealing with this. My heart goes out to Makenzie and her mom Jeanette. I am told by a friend of Jeanette's that she is a single parent, and has always worked several jobs to support Makenzie and herself. As you can imagine, treating ALL is not cheap. A family friend has set up a GoFundMe to help with medical and daily living expenses. I encourage you to check out the page to learn more about Makenzie.

I do hope you make the time to visit Flushing Candy Co tomorrow. You buying an ice cream cone, a sucker, or both, is going to really make a difference for this Flushing family. I thank you in advance.

#kenziestrong