Heroes for The Hanson’s - Support for Brooks

Brooks is a vibrant, charming and smart two-year-old. He will turn three in February! Here he is just a few weeks ago.

The Hanson family - JesseLee, Kirk, and Brooks - are as picture perfect as can be. But life just got flipped upside down and they will be needing some heroes to help along the way.

On Monday, October 18th, everything started to change…the Hanson family just didn’t know how significantly at the time. Brooks had some typical cold symptoms - a runny nose and cough. On Friday, October 29th he started having a high fever which was controlled by ibuprofen. On Sunday, October 31st, he was taken to the clinic and diagnosed and treated for an ear infection and wheezing in his lungs. Everything still seemed manageable.

However, a week later on Monday, November 8th, Brooks still wasn't feeling well and was unsteady on his feet. He was taken back to the clinic to have his ears rechecked…perhaps there was fluid in his ears or the ear infection hadn't cleared?!? That would have been the best case scenario.

The doctor was concerned about how pale he was and initiated a blood draw. The results reflected extremely low hemoglobin and high white blood cells.

Brooks was taken by ambulance from Grand Rapids to Essentia St. Mary's Children's Hospital Pediatric ICU in Duluth, MN.

On Wednesday, November 10th, Brooks was diagnosed with a less common form of blood cancer called Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

This won’t be a short or easy time for Brooks or his parents. Brooks just started his treatment this past Friday. His treatment plan is three 28-day cycles where he receives 10 consecutive days of chemotherapy. During treatment, Brooks has to live at the hospital with at least one parent by his side. In between treatments they may have a few days home. But for now, the hospital is home.

Only time will tell, but there is also a possibility he will need a bone marrow transplant. Essentia St. Mary's Children's Hospital is consulting with the University of Minnesota Children's Masonic for Brooks' treatment plan.

For children with cancer, the time spent in the hospital is long and comes with endless uncertainty. Caring for a toddler with cancer is a full time job. JesseLee has essentially left her job for now and is uncertain if it will be there when/if she can return. Kirk is using PTO and figuring out what options are available to him. For now the focus is on Brooks and ensuring he feels love and safety.

Chemo treatment will deplete his immune system and leave him immunocompromised which means staying at the hospital to have treatment monitored and side effects managed. Living in the hospital comes with many stressors - feeling helpless to make your little one feel better, lots of tests and constant monitoring, restless nights, and learning a whole new medical language you never wanted to learn, along with an endless list of fears and questions.

This is just the beginning of a long, uncertain journey for Brooks, Kirk and JesseLee. If you are reading this, you likely wish you could help in some way. Right now we are trying to provide support, positivity and offer a little breathing room from the financial stress that came with sudden illness and and an overnight change in priorities.

We are asking friends and family to be a Hero for the Hansons by sharing this fundraising link and donating any amount you can to help reach our goal of $25,000.

These funds will help with:

The Hanson family would also greatly enjoy cards or drawings of support to hang in Brook’s hospital room.

Cards or items for Brooks can be mailed to:

Essentia Health Pediatrics

C/O Brooks Hanson

407 E 3rd St

Duluth, MN 55805

❤️ We thank you for donating! Any amount - big or small - will add up and provide a little cushion during a hard time. ❤️

With gratitude to all the heroes out there,

Family and friends of The Hanson’s