Our 5 year old son was diaganosed with Leukemia in October of 2013. After inital treatment he was found to be HIGH RISK for the disease to return. While following the standard treatment for ALL he developed pancreatitis in December,a side affect of one of the chemo drugs that was to help cure him. After being hopilized for a week he woke up in pain, it was discovered that he had developed a pseudocyst. 10% of patients with pancreatitis develop this. He had surgery to drain it on Christmas Eve. After 20 days in the hospital which included being in for Christmas we came home on New Years Eve. He underwent a procedure to put drains thru his stomach into the cyst so that it could drain. Pedi Dr.'s don't do this so we had to put our trust and faith in adult surgeons to do this. He came thru that as a trooper. After a month long hold on any chemo it again has started up. He is going to need further procedures to remove the drains and debride the areas of the pancreas that are dead due to the disease.

We are down to a 1 income family due to his complex complications with his disease. There was a fund raiser held in November and that has been set up to cover Billy's medical only. The attached video is from a football fundraiser dubbed Billy's Bowl that was held on 2/15/2014. About 80 people showed up, and helped to shovel an area to play a game with procceds going to help with the overwhelming costs of maintaining a household with a sick child. It was an sight to see all those people shoveling to hepl us out, but due to the weather they are hoping to reschedule the event at a later date.

Billy is an amazing little boy who lights up a room with his smile. He has had to grow up fast due to his disease.He has missed a lot of school and we are trying to keep him up with his class. As stated his medical expenses are covered with the trust that was set up in November. Any help no matter how small will help us be able to concentrate on his treatments and getting him well. We are only a little under 5 months into this 3 plus year battle. Never knowing when a setback will happen. The unknown is the scariest. And not being able to recieve the chemo that caused the pancreatitis his cure rate is unknown. Yet he carries on and is always smiling. Even at his sickest he has maintained a great outlook. The medical staff at UMass have been amazing with him. They truly have gotten us thru some tough times.

Thank you for any help that you are able to lend. This will allow us to concentrate on getting Billy thru this process. Hugs to you all.

Billy's Family