Darla

by | Oct 23, 2019 | HelpTeam, Stories

Darla Young was born and raised in Brownsville, Oregon, went to Oregon State University and has been working in the Heritage Mall Management Office the past 6 years and is the cheerful / smiling face that greats you.  Darla attends the Brownsville Assembly of God Church with her teenage son and daughter and is very active in the community.  Darla is a single parent raising her two teens and enjoys cake decorating, photography, playing board games and helping others. She’s the first to volunteer when help is needed and always comes up with creative ways to impact the lives of people she loves and cares about. She’s very giving, loving, sensitive, always looks for the best in others, and loves to be the ‘behind the scene’ person to take care of the details. Her positive mindset, Christian heart, and desire to make a difference are her guiding principles in life.

In September Darla was having flu-like symptoms for several weeks so her family encouraged her to go to Albany immediate care, which then led to being taken to the Springfield Hospital where after a series of tests and blood transfusion found cancer in her blood.  That evening Darla was taken by ambulance to OHSU where she was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia), a rare type of bone marrow cancer.  Recently she was treated with high intensity chemotherapy, 24 hours a day directly into her heart. The next stage is a bone marrow biopsy to see the effects of the chemotherapy and if she’ll need a bone marrow (stem cell) transplant, or if additional chemo treatments over the coming year will suffice.  If a transplant is needed, the search will begin for a matching donor.

In the meantime, her family is immensely grateful to all who donate blood, plasma and platelets and encourage new donors, as national and local supplies are currently very low.

Darla and her family have a tough journey ahead and can use your thoughts, prayers and support.  Even words of encouragement are appreciated and can be sent to:

OHSU
Darla Young
3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd
14th Floor, Room 12
Portland, OR 97239

Thank you and God Bless.