Ken Rayhon and his family need our support

A friend and his family need our help and support.

You see, Ken, a father of 3, Brayden (15), Emma (12), and Kenzie (10) and husband of Jodi, who have been married for 16 years, has recently been diagnosed with a terrible disease. But before we get into that, let me tell you a little about Ken.

Where to start? There are so many things that can be said about this man. A warrior, a fighter, a tough guy, an intimidating guy BUT what makes him so special is that a guy like that is also loving, caring, empathetic, friendly, just his pure humanity. Also his love for his family, yes we all love our families, but everyone who meets Ken can actually see it and feel it. It actually is hard to explain, you just have to meet him and you would understand. He just makes you feel better being around him, he is just that type of person.

Also his kindness for his community and friends. Ken is a NJ State Trooper, so yeah, he helps many this way but even out of uniform this man goes above and beyond. He takes time, his own time to help raise awareness for many causes and charities, time to help others in need. Ken would drop whatever he is doing to help another. He would give the shirt off his back, you know the saying. Whether being a part of it or by his generosity, Ken is always willing to help.

Well, this time, Ken needs help. His family needs help.

Ken has been diagnosed with (MDS/MPN-UC) Myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasm, unclassifiable, which is when the disease shows features of both MDS and MPN but does not meet the criteria for any of the three major MDS/MPN categories. To simplify, MDS is type of blood cancer where there are abnormal cells and your bone marrow makes fewer blood cells. In MPN, the bone marrow makes too many of one or more types of blood cells (in Kens case, platelets). These cells change the thickness of the blood. Sometimes they don’t work properly. They also crowd the bone marrow and then it can’t make enough healthy blood cells. There is no standard treatment for MDS/MPN overlap syndrome. Treatment options depend on the specific subtype of MDS/MPN overlap syndrome.

In Ken's case, the MDS is what's causing the main issue at this time. It is very aggressive! He has met with the Bone Marrow Transplant Team at Sloan Kettering in NY and they have told him that his next step should be a bone marrow transplant. This procedure is extremely risky and not one that you want to take if not necessary.

Once his levels are at a safe percentage and a match has been found, he will begin the process. During this time, he will have to reside near the hospital, away from home being that he cannot be any further than an hour away from the center. The family currently resides in NJ, an hour and 45 minutes from where his treatment will be. He will be gone no less than 100 days making things even harder on the family. He will receive intensive chemo to kill all unhealthy cells, and then stem cell infusion and will have to be monitored 24/7 while he recovers.

So many people have reached out and asked how to help and what they can do, this is how we can support them through this tough battle.

Now is the time for us to help him.

Please keep the Rayhons in your prayers and thoughts.

Thank you for your support.