Join Daniel in Fighting Leukemia

As many of you know by now, my brother, Daniel was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on October 16th. Since that day, we’ve been overwhelmed by the constant support, outreach, and overall kind words provided by our friends, family, and loved ones.

For those of you that may not know the full story, Daniel went into the ER on October 15th with symptoms of extreme fatigue, barely being able to walk, and severe headaches. Within 24 hours of his admission, our family heard the spectrum of diagnoses that transpired from just “extreme anemia” to the final words that changed our lives forever, “leukemia”. Immediately, we were filled with shock, despair, and an overall sense of confusion. “How could our Daniel at just 28 years old, be diagnosed with cancer?” crossed several of our minds.   

Fast forward to present day, and all we can say is we are blessed. ALL is not the hardest cancer to beat but it is not the easiest.  Treatment is an intense 6 months with 8 rounds of chemo every 21 days requiring hospital stays each round for at least a week. These past 2 months could easily be compared to a roller coaster. There were constant battles of low hemoglobin, white cell, and platelet levels. These caused fatigue, low oxygen, an extremely weakened immune system, and a risk of bleeding.  Each treatment affects these levels differently and it’s been a constant battle to bring up these levels. If you are a blood donor, bless you!  Daniel has already received 26 blood transfusions and numerous IV bags of platelets. Though the treatment is hard, we thank God that Daniel’s cancer was caught and diagnosed in time! We were recently told by the doctors that for patients at the same state he was in, there is a 100% mortality rate within 4-5 weeks without treatment.

Daniel, his wife Rebecca, and our families are truly humbled by all the love, prayers and support from family, friends, our church families, and the wonderful oncology staff at Mercy Hospital. Daniel and Rebecca are fighting as hard as they can and need as much help as they can get.  They have had to spend 40 out of the last 66 days in the hospital.  Due to the nature of his treatment and amount of time in the hospital, Daniel requires constant care, which means both Daniel and Rebecca have had to put their jobs on hold. We are grateful for any help with the financial burden of mounting medical bills and expenses, so they can focus on their fight.   Any amount of support would be a tremendous blessing to help get them through.