St. Jude Dream Home: Meet Millie

OZARK, Mo. (KY3) - An Ozark family never had to leave their own community to get the answers they needed for their daughter, Millie, all thanks to St. Jude.

“Millie ended up getting sick in late September of last year, out of the blue,” recalled Mary Smouse, Millie’s mom.

“She ended up with a full-body rash,” said Mary, and they took her to the ER>

At the emergency room, Millie’s family felt like their fears were building.

“You have no answers,” said Jess Smouse, Millie’s dad. “You’re just sitting in a little hospital room, and I don’t know how bad this is.”

The uncertainty changed when they got to Springfield’s St. Jude Affiliate Clinic.

They figured out Millie had ITP, which stands for Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura.

“Essentially, her blood platelet count was very, very low,” said Mary.

ITP is a bleeding disorder where the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys platelets.

“What could be a super scary situation, they (St. Jude) turned into one where I left feeling like, ok, it’s not a total end of the world. We’re in great hands,” shared Mary.

There were many appointments between then and now, and taking a one-year-old to weekly appointments to have Millie’s blood tested wasn’t easy, but everyone at St. Jude in Springfield made it more manageable

“When you walk in, they’re like ‘Oh hi Millie!”, shared Mary. “Which is always very comforting. They always had people coming in with little toys to entertain, and they had people coming in to check on me, which was very nice. And very different from usual medical settings,” Mary said.

The Smouse Family never thought they’d need answers for their daughter at the hospital, but they are thankful St. Jude was there to provide them.

“That was a period of time that makes us very grateful. That we’re all here and everyone is relatively healthy, besides running noses, everyone is doing well and growing, getting bigger and learning,” added Mary.

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