Recap of MLD on the Hill

In May of this year, we had the incredible opportunity to go to Washington D.C. with other MLD families, doctors, scientists and supporters to share our stories, and why Newborn Screening is necessary for MLD.

Time got away from me so I’m just now posting about it…one week before we return to D.C. (more on that later).

During our initial trip, where I took Keira and Eva and Dave stayed home with Livvy, we met with several lawmakers (and their teams) and I was among a few parents who spoke at a Congressional Briefing on the Hill. Not something I had on my bingo card for 2025…or ever, for that matter!

It was an amazing experience but also very eye opening to see in-person the inner workings of our government and the processes by which things get done (or sometimes don’t). Not unlike having to be an advocate for your children at the hospital, it is up to us at citizens to be an advocate for things we know are important to this nation – and in this case, are life-saving.

Following the ACHDNC being shuttered by the Trump administration – a mere one week prior to the vote on adding MLD to the RUSP – the entire MLD community was up in arms and determined to somehow move the vote forward.

So we, along with other MLD families across the nation, went to Capitol Hill to show lawmakers what newborn screening for MLD can do; to show them, in person, the lives that have already been saved.

During the trip, we met with Rep. Greg Stanton, along with staffers from the offices of Senator Mark Kelly, Senator Ruben Gallego and Rep. Buddy Carter from Georgia.

I also spoke alongside three other parents at a Congressional Briefing at the Capitol Hill Visitor Center, where a variety of lawmakers listened to our stories of tragedy and how they have the power to turn this into a triumph for the many families who will also be faced with this devastating diagnosis.

Below are a few photos from our trip. Keira and I are looking forward to going back to DC next week! Feel free to follow along on that journey on my Instagram, @mrskendrariley.

Kendra Riley and her daughters Eva and Keira meet US Representative from Arizona, Greg Stanton at his office in the US Capitol in Washington, DC on May 7, 2025 to advocate for gene therapy and newborn screening for MLD.

FDA Approves Gene Therapy Treatment for MLD

It’s been a while since I’ve posted to the blog, but not for lack of updates…lack of time.

While much has happened since my last post in November 2023 (Keira turned 4, I continued advocacy efforts for Right to Try 2.0, which you can read in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Epoch Times and all three girls immediately became Swiftiies after seeing the Eras Tour on TV). But one of the most important updates is that the FDA approved the gene therapy treatment Keira received in Italy (called Libmeldy in Europe and Lenmeldy in the US)!

If you haven’t yet read the details of the FDA approval, you can find it here.

We have been overwhelmed with emotion, thinking of all the families who will be spared from losing a child to this disease now that this treatment is approved. A huge round of applause goes to all of the doctors, nurses, advocates, gene therapy families, and many more who have had a role to play in this process. It has been years in the making!

Since the approval, I have also had the honor of sharing the girls’ story with CNN and NewsNation, which you can watch here:

It’s always bittersweet to share the girls’ story with the world, but I know it’s an important one that is helping to create massize change for other families like ours.

Thank you to all of you have been along with us on this journey!

Next step: getting MLD added to nationwide Newborn Screening so that all babies are tested in time to actually get the FDA approved treatment! More on that soon…

Keira’s 3-Year Post Gene Therapy Check Up

I can’t believe it’s been three+ years since Keira received this life-saving treatment. As we do annually, one of us heads back to Italy with her, along with Eva and one of our Moms (while the other stays home with Livvy), for her usual check up.

But this is not just your typical pediatrician visit. It’s 4-5 full days of various tests, blood draws, and evaluations to ensure everything internally is working as it should and that there are still no signs of MLD.

Here is what each day entailed:

Day 1

Basal Blood Sample + Urine Tests
EEG
General Clinical Evaluation
Audio/Visual Evaluation
Left Hand Wrist X-Ray to determine bone age
Cardiological Exam + Echocardiogram and Electrocardiogram

Day 2

Psychological Exam

Day 3

Abdomen + Thyroid Ultrasound
Neurological Motor Examination

Day 4

MRI
Bone Marrow Aspirate
Electromyography
Lumbar Puncture
Blood Draw

Day 5

Endocrinological Evaluation

I am happy to report that all of her tests (so far) have come back great! The white matter in her brain that, as a baby, showed some inital signs of degeneration have actually now shown signs of regeneration in the MRI. There is no other word for it than miraculous.

And Keira handled it all very well, all things considered. When we spoke with her on WhatsApp one day, she nonchalantly said, “Oh ya, I just got a blood draw at the hospital.” Then continued on with the conversation about the playground they went to the other day.

We knew she was doing well, and is even advanced in some areas, but to have this confirmation from the doctors that everything internally is just as it appears externally, is a huge relief!

It is amazing to see her grow and develop in ways we never got to see with Livvy, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for Keira.

Because all went so well, we now only have to go back every other year for check-ups. See you in 2025, Milano!

See a few photos from her time at Ospedale San Raffaele below:

What a Miracle Looks Like

I recently took these photos of Keira when she was playing on Livvy’s Make-a-Wish swing set, and I can’t stop thinking about them. I’m sure to a “normal” parent, this would look like everyday life. But to me, seeing Keira’s face in both pictures…it just exudes hope, joy, happiness, and gratefulness. Her standing there, so strong…it’s what a miracle looks like (to us anyway). It is something her sister Livvy was never able to do. And the fact that Keira can, will forever blow me away.

I’m sharing these photos here not for just our own memory, but to also give hope to any other family whose newborn receives this diagnosis; to show the advances in modern medicine; to show what’s possible when the government and insurance companies get out of their own red tape and grow a heart; to show what is possible if EVERY child is screened at birth for this disease. Thousands of lives would be saved annually. And so many families would be spared of the devastation, grief, and heartbreak that comes with losing a child. Instead, they would get moments like these.

3 Years of Keira

Wow. It has been a minute (or more like 6 months or so) since I’ve actually posted an update here. Life, travel, advocacy, parenting, work, holidays and everything in between has taken up our time and if there’s one thing I know: time with our girls over anything else is time not wasted.

Now that I have a few minutes, I wanted to share an update on Keira. She is officially 3 years old (as of January 9th) and you would never know she was diagnosed with the same disease as her sister, who is enrolled in Hospice. The difference between the two is night and day.

We are always looking at Keira in amazement over one thing or another. If it’s not her ability to run and climb, it’s how advanced she is in communication (she has since moved up a level in school because of it) or her love of make up or her opinions on our attire, or her skills at back seat driving. I wish I could share a video of her every single day because the world (and more particularly the FDA) needs to see what gene therapy for MLD (Metachromatic Leukodystrophy) can do. It’s truly been our miracle.

Just for fun…we asked her the following questions so you could get to know her right now:

1. If you won a million dollars, what would you buy?
A Barbie Lego!

2. How long does it take to get to Italy?
Far

3. What job would you like to do when you grow up?
Elsa

4. At what age do you become an adult?
16

5. If you could be a superhero, what superpower would you have?
I can use powers, and I can make ice.

6. What is your favorite animal?

Seahorse and horses.

7. If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Mac and cheeeeeeese!

8. What’s your favorite color?

Pink and Orange

9. What does love mean to you?
It means I love you!

10. What’s your favorite movie?
Elsa and Anna

11. Where did you go in Paris?

The Eiffel Tower!

While she is definitely a “three-nager” and quite sassy and independent, we always remind ourselves that even the hard days are miraculous days. Had she not received this treatment, she wouldn’t even be speaking at this point. So even a “No!” Or “I’m not going to!” response is internally met with a bit of joy on our part. We never got these moments with Livvy so we cherish it all; the good, bad and the sassy. 🥰

PFDD for MLD on Oct 21st

These letters may not mean much to you but they mean SO much to the MLD community of patients and their loved ones. Because on October 21st, a select group of individuals in that community (including yours truly), get to share their stories in a PFDD, meaning Patient Focused Drug-Development meeting, with the FDA, researchers, clinicians, and other stakeholders. Yes…I said the FDA!

I am blown away that we get to shine a light on this horrible disease and share that there is actually a treatment option out there that can save non-symptomatic patients with this disease, like Keira.

And YOU can be a part of it! Both the speakers, as well as their family and friends, can log on to this Zoom discussion to share what you see first-hand regarding this disease and how a treatment like the gene therapy Keira received could be beneficial (which, by beneficial, I mean the absolute best option on Earth).

Myself and other panelists meeting on Zoom to practice our presentations for the Oct 21st PFDD.

Here is the link to register and join us on Zoom on October 21st: www.mldpfdd.org.

This PFDD means quite a few – very important – things:

1. Our community has raised enough awareness about this terrible disease to get in front of the FDA, researchers and other key stakeholders and share its affect on patients and caregivers and the only treatment options that exist.

2. This could raise awareness for the need for the Newborn Screening panel to include MLD. Because the gene therapy Keira received has come to the US (and is already approved in the EU), we have a way to treat newborns diagnosed with MLD. And unless it’s treated fast, they will end up with a fate like Livvy’s.

3. Once they see the odds this community is up against and the options available, they may be more open to approving treatments for life-ending disease. No child should die by age 6 when they have the chance to live a full life if they were diagnosed at birth.

As part of the panels presenting, I will am getting to share our family’s story in relation to current and future treatments for MLD. Including, the two treatment options we used for the girls (Livvy’s clinical trial and Keira’s gene therapy), any complications that resulted (like Livvy’s internal port in the clinical trial), how we manage Livvy’s symptoms, how Keira is symptom-free nd how willing we are to do anything to give our children the chance at a better life.

Here is the link again to stay up to date and join us online October 21st: www.mldpfdd.org. By registering you will also have access to the September 12th community webinar.

If you or a family member have been affected by this disease I highly urge you to join me – attendees can share their insights too!

UPDATE: to see the full MLD PFDD, including my testimony, it is now online here: www.mldpfdd.org.

Right to Try 2.0 Passes in Arizona

After testifying at the Arizona Senate and House of Representatives, sharing our family’s story and how the expansion of the original Right to Try Bill could help families like ours, I’m thrilled to share that Right to Try 2.0 has passed and was signed by Governor Doug Ducey!

Right to Try 2.0 is a first-in-the-nation reform that will empower seriously ill Arizonans to access personalized treatments that have yet to receive full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Goldwater Institute

We had the pleasure of meeting Governor Ducey last week during the Ceremonial Bill Signing at the Arizona State Capitol. The girls were thrilled to go (after a quick lesson in US government so they knew what a Governor, Senator and a Bill is).

Governor Ducey, Senator Nancy Barto and myself all spoke before he signed the Bill. You can view a portion of that here:

“Now, critically ill patients can get access to these groundbreaking treatments here in Arizona, so no family has to go through what the Riley‘s did.”

SB 1163, sponsored by @NancyBarto, was just signed into law. Hear how this bill will create new opportunities for Arizonans. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/b0kkGMSOtn
— AZSenateRepublicans (@AZSenateGOP) August 15, 2022

The Goldwater Institute’s Right to Try for Individualized Treatments reform builds on the original Right to Try law and protects patients’ right to try to save their own lives by seeking treatments tailor-made for them that are not yet FDA-approved. This common-sense measure accounts for new innovations in medicine and helps get those innovations to the patients who need them the most.

As I mentioned in my speech, the United States is the greatest country on earth and access to life-saving medical treatments should be among its many benefits. We are thrilled Arizonans now have that right and are hopeful other states – and eventually the nation – will follow suit.

You can read more about Right to Try 2.0 and our efforts here on Reason.com.

And here some photos from the signing at the Arizona State Capitol:

Photos by Neal Mei Photography, courtesy of the Goldwater Institute.

Armer Foundation Gala

In 2020, when we knew we had A LOT of money to fundraise to save Keira’s life, Dave’s Aunt Malinda suggested her friend Jennifer’s non-profit as a supplement to fundraising on GoFundMe. I had never heard of The Armer Foundation for Kids before and was a little skeptical at first but after some research and reassurance, accepted the additional help.

Not only did they create a fundraising page on their website (which took ZERO fees out for processing, like GoFundMe does) but they made flyers, t-shirts, told everyone about us and even held a yard sale in the middle of the scorching AZ summer at our house. And they are a big part of the reason why we made it to Italy.

After going through this experience and seeing all they did for us I knew I had to help. When we got back from Italy I told Jennifer I wanted in. I wanted to do whatever I could to help other families like ours. And I’m honored to say that ever since then I’ve been a board member.

Through my PR agency, I help the other families they are fundraising for to get on TV, get their stories in the paper and raise awareness to increase fundraising for their choldren. It has been amazing to give back in this way when I know that insurance doesn’t cover it all.

And another way is attending their annual gala – their biggest fundraiser of the year which just took place on August 6th at Ashley Castle in Chandler, Arizona.

It was an incredible evening, emceed by Tess Rafols of 3TV, that showcased some wonderful musical talent, an amazing silent auction and the heart-wrenching stories of the Armer Foundation families who are in need of financial support for their children.

To learn about these children and their stories, and donate, visit www.armerfoundation.org/armerkids.

Jennifer was also kind enough to mention our family at the gala and how that yard sale for Keira inspired her to open their thrift store (located at 9830 S 51st St Suite A128, Phoenix, AZ 85044). For any items you have to donate, please consider taking them there and helping these families.

For all other info, visit www.armerfoundation.org, or connect with them on Facebook.

Dave and I at the Armer Foundation gala.

Mother’s Day Rings Different After D-Day

It was a few days before Mother’s Day this year that Dave had to remind me that it was coming up the next Sunday. And immediately I got that same feeling of dread and guilt that I felt on my first Mother’s Day after receiving Livvy’s diagnosis (coined D-Day). I was sick to my stomach.

My first Mother’s Day after Livvy’s diagnosis. She could still talk, still sometimes sit up on her own and we had no idea about Keira’s diagnosis yet. My mom surprised me with Eva’s shirt that says “Strong Like Mom” and it made me tear up (and still does). From the picture you’d have no idea what we were going through. But internally I was broken.

While I know it’s not my or Dave’s “fault’ that this has happened to our children, you can’t help but feel like a bad parent when your child is terminally ill and there’s literally nothing you can do to fix it and make them better.

That first Mother’s Day and Father’s Day after we received Livvy’s (and then Keira’s) diagnosis were gut wrenching. Dave and I didn’t want to celebrate; we were heartbroken. I felt nauseous for months after receiving the news. It was one of the worst times of our lives knowing not one but two of our children has this terminal illness for which there was no cure. Why would we then turn around and celebrate us as parents?

Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day, suddenly went from being days to celebrate us as parents to days we dread.

While it seems each year it has gotten a tiny bit easier for me to process, it’s still a day I do not want to celebrate. I’d love to erase it from the calendar altogether if I could. But I know each year Eva, and soon Keira, will come home with gifts for us that they made at school. And we’ll be forced to put on those smiles and “celebrate,” at least taking comfort in the fact that it’s something the girls enjoy celebrating. For us though…I think it will always be hard.

What we do take comfort in though is the fact that we have done literally everything in our power to get them anything and everything we possibly could – whether it’s the only clinical trial in the world for symptomatic MLD patients, a life-saving gene therapy treatment in Italy for non-symptomatic MLD patients or just all the hugs, loves and happy life experiences we could think of. We would do anything for our girls.

And in the end, I know we deserve to be celebrated. But on days like those we just have to try extra hard to enjoy it.

2022 Cupcake Gala

It’s been so busy this past month that I haven’t had a chance to update the blog regularly but I can’t not mention our trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania last month to attend The Calliope Joy Foundation’s annual Cupcake Gala. One of the special guests in attendance? Our very own Keira.

The Calliope Joy Foundation was founded by Maria Kefalas and Pat Carr, parents of Calliope Joy Carr who just passed away earlier this year – defeating the odds of MLD by making it to age 12 rather than the expected average age of 6. Her journey inspired Maria and Pat to not only do all they could to help their own daughter but to also help make a difference for other families facing this devastating disease.

This all started by selling cupcakes to fundraise, hence the name of their biggest annual fundriaser, the Cupcake Gala at Loews Philadelphia Hotel.

We were honored to be in attendance, not only for Keira to be a special guest but more so to finally meet Maria. It was Maria who informed me on June 20, 2020 (the day after we got Keira’s diagnosis) that there was actually a treatment option to give her a potentially normal life but that we would need to move to Italy to get it. Within 24 hours she introduced us to the team of doctors at Ospedale San Raffaele and our lives were changed forever.

To say we are grateful for her (and her family) is an understatement. She is one of our many angels on earth helping us through this unreal journey.

While there, we also had the chance to meet one of the other special guests, Celia Grace, a little girl from Alabama who we helped get this very same treatment right here in the US. Due to our connection with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, they were able to work with the Alabama team to get this treatment approved after the Hamlett family had already received two denials. To see Keira amd Celia Grace running around playing with each other like “normal” kids their age was amazing.

Here are a few photos from the Gala:

Calliope’s nurse Peggy, Maria Kefalas, Kendra, Keira and Dave

And here are a few photos from our time sight seeing in Philadelphia:

It was a wonderful trip and we look forward to returning next year!

For more details on The Calliope Joy Foundation amd their annual Cupcake Gala, visit www.thecalliopejoyfoundation.org.

P.s. Maria is also the author of Harnessing Grief, where she shares her own story of how she turned her grief over Cal’s diagnosis into her superpower. That super power? Cal’s legacy and everything the Kefalas-Carr family does for families like ours through the Calliope Joy Foundation and CureMLD.com.

The Riley's Road to Italy

keira