Elliot's fight against Burkitt's Lymphoma

Update - 10/12/2023. It is with a deeply sorrowful and heavy heart that we announce the passing of Elliot this afternoon. He was surrounded by Caley and family. He will be dearly missed. ❤️

We plan to keep this page up, as Evie and Caley could use your support.

_____________________________________________________________________

True love stories can be found in books (AND on apps)! As Caley Elliott swiped through the latter, she landed on a cutie that stood out not only by his looks—she said, “You guys are never going to believe this…” but with a guy who had the same first name as her last name. As we all know, the rest is history!

Caley and Elliot were making all their dreams come true, celebrating a new home, and—in the throes of renovations—being blessed with their sweet baby girl Evie. Oh, and they managed all this while planning an international wedding. They already had their hands very full… and then their lives were drastically turned upside down.

Elliot began to experience sudden neck and back pain and went to the chiropractor. Soon after, he had an MRI and subsequently saw an oncologist for CT scans and biopsies. The results turned out to be something far worse than they ever could have imagined. He had a large mass on his lung, tumors in his stomach, and swollen lymph nodes. On 6/21/23, Elliot was diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma, a very rare and aggressive form of lymphoma.

[original GoFundMe EDITED on 10/4/23 below]

But…

Elliot’s original treatment plan was inpatient chemo every 4 weeks for 6 cycles. However, after three rounds, a CT scan was performed and showed that the chemo was NOT working, and the cancer was growing. His doctor then began a new chemo regimen, only to unfortunately discover that the new plan was also ineffective. The seriousness of the situation immediately changed, and Caley and Elliot began seeking second opinions with appointments at University of Chicago and Northwestern. After much more deliberation and discussion with their doctor, who has been in contact with many well-known hematologists, all signs now point to the best cancer hospital in the country- MD Anderson, and time is of the essence.

The new plan is to try yet another new chemo regimen called R ICE. The goal is to get the cancer “under control” enough for Elliot to travel to Houston on October 16th to start a procedure called Car-T Cell Therapy. This is a state-of-the-art type of immunotherapy where the doctors collect his T cells, remove them from his body, and then train the cells in a lab to recognize and kill the cancer when reintroduced back into his body. Following the Car-T Cell Therapy, an allo stem cell transplant (donor transplant) procedure can be done.

Just recently, things got a whole lot more serious, and the fight just got a whole lot harder…

This now means they will have to temporarily move down to Texas for at least a few weeks, and very possibly, a few months, with neither of them having an income. It feels like the plans are changing by the day, and it’s hard to fathom what tomorrow brings.

These vital contributions will be used to continue to pay their mortgage in Chicago, support their infant baby, Evie, who is with Grandma, and to help pay for Houston’s travel expenses, food, and lodging.

The gravity of the situation is real and the Hensels need your help.

To follow along the journey please join the Facebook group “Elliot’s updates”

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1296393044303099