A Santa Clarita woman and her family have set up a fundraising page in order to help Alissa Rose afford the costly and highly specialized Lupus treatments she needs, which are available at only a few hospitals in the country.

“My little sister Alissa was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in March of 2015,” said the crowdsourcing page set up to help Rose. “Lupus is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks all of the cells and causes widespread inflammation, with symptoms like organ damage, disabling joint pain, and skin changes, among others.”

At the time of her diagnosis, Alissa was attending college at University of San Diego, was a member of a sorority there and had a internship that helped underprivileged children.

“I was having a lot of fun at college and studying sociology and Spanish,” said Rose. “I even had my internship that I worked at.”

Rose, while attending USD as a full time student, also found time for an unpaid internship where she would drive to Southeast San Diego and tutor underprivileged children.

However, after her diagnoses in February of 2015, Rose had to leave both her college friends, classes and internship in order to move home and begin her road to remission.

But despite her daily need for medications and treatments that are often painful or make her feel ill, Rose was still able to be finish her online degree and begin a Master’s program through Arizona State University’s online program.

“Her dream is to continue doing what she was doing during her internship and eventually be a social worker in hospitals, helping underprivileged families,” said the GoFundMe.

And while Rose remains optimistic, her doctor has recently informed her that the best plan moving forward in terms of her treatment would be to receive a Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) — a procedure offered by only a few hospitals in the country, such as Northwestern Hospital in Chicago.

“There are a few programs like what Northwestern has around the country, but the research they’ve done there is the safest and best in the country,” said Rose. “The doctor I would have basically pioneered this type of procedure.”

Over the last year, Rose and her family have been struggling but succeeding to afford the numerous treatments and medications that she has needed. However, the latest development involves her and her mother needing to travel back and forth from Santa Clarita to Chicago for extended periods of time.

“The treatment is aggressive, and will require four trips back and forth to Chicago with Alissa and our mom as her caregiver,” said Rose’s sister, Aubrianne Cho. “The entire process of the transplant will occur during a 6-8 week period.”

“We are asking for help from our family, friends, community, and social networks,” said Cho. “With your help, we will be able to support Alissa to receive the transplant, and be able to pay for lodging, flights to and from Chicago, food, supplies, medications, co-payments, and other medical and travel expenses incurred, like a wig and head co

verings.”

Alissa’s testing and pre-transplant appointments are scheduled to begin in the spring, and when they are done she will receive a transplant.

“As a parent and a mother I would do anything to wave a magic wand genie to make it me and not her that was sick because I’ve already lived my life and had the experiences,” said Anne Ybara, Rose’s mother. “She has so much to give back, and it’s only this disease that is trying to stop her.”

To support Rose, visit her YouCaring page by clicking here.

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