AML Leukemia Miracles for Nathan : Chapter 2

Hi, I'm Sherina, sitting here in room 222 of oncology with my husband Nathan. We're here because recent tests show that leukemia cells have infiltrated Nathan's central nervous system - known as CNS Leukemia. It is very rare for this to happen after treatment and remission from AML leukemia, but here we are, in that rare percentage group.

We're fundraising for our family to assist with medical costs as we get ready to undergo Chapter 2 of leukemia chemotherapy treatment that begins on 1/9/23. There is an urgency for treatment to begin since disruption to the central nervous system causes malfunctions of things that work for us automatically (swallowing, breathing, thinking, moving, etc.).

We feel so fortunate to have made it through our first miracle (full story below), we believe God has a bigger plan for us, and are faithful and ready to witness His hand in this journey.

Any assistance we receive will go towards paying our medical bills to relieve the financial stresses so we may fully focus on his healing and recovery through and after treatment. Thank you for being here with us, supporting our family, and helping us through this unchartered territory. This will likely be the biggest test we go through yet. While it sounds straightforward, this treatment will have its own set of challenges but will always be met with Faith, Trust, and Surrender in God's will for us.

Thank you so very much.

We wish you and yours many blessings, love, and light.

THE FULL STORY

CHAPTER 1: THE FIRST MIRACLES

In late November 2021, I walked Nathan into the ER as he began fumbling at home, out of breath, and pale. The first test revealed he had basically been walking around with no blood, having a hemoglobin of 3. And somehow still able to communicate.

Further testing ended up revealing at the young age of 37, he was positive for AML leukemia. He got to come home and spend Thanksgiving with us, and the next day, he checked into the hospital to begin chemo treatment.

Treatment was going well, but as his bone marrow was depleted, and his immune system going with it, he very quickly got pneumonia in both lungs. This led him to be intubated to rest his lungs, but what was only to be a few days, ended up being the most 9 scary days of our lives (mainly myself and our family because he was asleep).

His lungs showed an early indication of ARDS, and they began a nebulization treatment which significantly improved his lung condition. Then around day 5, nurses noticed he wasn't moving his right side. They immediately did a CT scan which showed he had at some point had 3 ischemic strokes, and his right carotid artery was blocked.

The next morning he went into emergency brain surgery to remove the clot. God's hands were at work moving with the surgeon as he was able to remove the clot successfully, leaving Nathan with little to no deficits.

On day 9, sedation was stopped, the breathing tube was removed and Nathan was able to return to us. Truly a miracle of God. What a day that was to walk into the ICU room and see his beautiful brown eyes!

The months to follow were filled with bloodwork appointments, and succession chemotherapy in three 3-month intervals to ensure leukemia had indeed been fully removed from his bone marrow. By June of 2022, he had wrapped up all the chemo and we received word from our oncologist that Nathan was indeed, leukemia-free. A full remission, thanks be to God.

Everything has been fine until early December 2022 when Nathan began experiencing problems swallowing; aspirating while eating or drinking. Then a couple of weeks later muscle pains began to set in. We contacted doctors and our oncologist which led to more testing hoping to find the root cause and remedies.

Turns out, a few little leukemia blasts decided to make their way into his central nervous system without permission. We’ve since learned the cause for his throat not working properly, the muscle spasms, slowing of speech, and difficulty cognitively, is due to these leukemia blasts wreaking havoc in his blood-brain barrier. Our central nervous system is what keeps our bodies working without us thinking about it, all of our autonomic functions.

Now we are on track to begin these sessions of chemotherapy starting on January 9th, 2023, and pray as it begins taking effect kicking out the little leukemia poop heads hanging out in there, his autonomic functions (especially his throat) begin working again.