Two Young Sisters Diagnosed With Same Rare Illness

An Inola mother of four is struggling with a situation no parent should have to face, having children diagnosed with a rare and potentially fatal illness. She's a single mom, who works overnights,

Tuesday, May 8th 2007, 11:32 am

By: News On 6

An Inola mother of four is struggling with a situation no parent should have to face, having children diagnosed with a rare and potentially fatal illness. She's a single mom, who works overnights, then comes home to care for her kids. The News On 6â€™s Heather Lewin reports she's now faced with a mountain of bills and the possibility of losing what's most precious to her in the world.

It was spring of 2003 when Brittany Sontag came down with the flu, or at least that's what doctors thought.

"And she just kept getting more and more tired and losing weight and we just couldn't figure out what was going on," said Brittany Sontagâ€™s mother Kathy Sontag.

Suddenly she couldn't breathe. Doctors thought it was pneumonia, but it turned out to be much worse. Brittany was ultimately diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH, a rare blood disorder in which the immune system attacks the body and eventually shuts down the organs. If not caught early, it can be quickly fatal.

"After about a year of treatment, she started to look more like herself. She'd gained some weight back and was doing okay," said Kathy Sontag.

She says she learned to accept her daughter's illness. The whole family was trying to move on, when the unthinkable happened, something that shocked even the doctors.

Brittany Sontag's younger sister, Cassie Sontag, got sick.

"She told me, mom, it doesn't feel like the flu. Brittany said, mom, she's got what I've got. I said, don't say that, don't even joke about that," said Kathy Sontag.

But Brittany Sontag was right.

Cassie Sontag started treatment right away with chemotherapy. Now both girls must travel to a special hospital in Cincinnati for a bone marrow transplant. Doctors say if either has a relapse, the disease likely won't respond to treatment a second time and be fatal. Kathy Sontag is going on unpaid leave from work for six months. Insurance will help with the medical bills, but she doesn't know how she'll keep up with other costs to support the family. Still, despite all the financial hardship, she only has one major fear.

"Not bringing both of them home, I can't imagine,â€ Kathy Sontag said. â€œIt scares the hell out of me."

HLH affects one in every 200,000 children, and Kathy Sontag has two. Their case is so rare, it's become the subject of a special study. Sontag's other two daughters show no sign of the disorder.

An account has been setup to help the family at the First Bank of Oklahoma in Claremore. The account is called Benefit For The Sontag Family.
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To check on Brittany Sontag and Cassie Sontag, go to www.caringbridge.org. Click on â€œvisit a caring bridge siteâ€ and type in either brittanysontag or cassiesontag (no spaces between first and last name).

Watch the video: Sisters Facing The Same Rare Immune Disorder