Help with Mitchell's Medical and Travel Costs

Mitchell is an energetic 9-year-old boy. He lives for all things Batman and Marvel. He has a cat named Socks that he adores even though she attacks him occasionally. They run and play together throughout the house. Mitchell lives with his parents and older brother Benjamin.

Mitchell is now in the 2nd grade at Odyssey Preparatory Academy in Palm Bay, FL. He says when he grows up, he wants to be either a doctor, a scientist, or a Child Life Specialist (or maybe all three). He wants to help kids just like him who have fought cancer.

In 2019, Mitchell was diagnosed with B Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma after having mysteriously lost his eyesight. He underwent 3 ½ years of intensive chemotherapy and was declared cancer-free in October of 2022. However, his vision loss would turn out to be permanent due to increased cranial pressure from the cancer crushing the optic nerve. There is currently no cure or treatment for this type of blindness. However, Mitchell does not let this stand in the way of doing many of the things he loves, like learning braille, running and playing at recess with friends, and enjoying life to its fullest.

The celebration of being cancer-free would be relatively short-lived when he was not feeling well in July of 2023. Mitchell returned to the doctor and they discovered that his cancer had returned. Mitchell’s cancer now is a rare form of B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia that only shows up in his Spinal Fluid (CSF) and nowhere else. This makes the medical intervention to address it more difficult because it is so uncommon for cancers to originate in the CSF.

Mitchell has recently begun undergoing Chemotherapy treatment in Orlando and is going to be treated with what is a somewhat experimental procedure called CAR T Cell Therapy.

However, this is an amazing treatment that uses the T Cells from his body to seek out and destroy cancer cells. This is currently Mitchell’s best chance for remission. This treatment is very expensive and can cost up to $1,000,000.00. Mitchell’s family has insurance, but insurance does not cover 100% of all expenses incurred during treatment.

Mitchell lives in a county that has no pediatric oncology programs; therefore, he must travel 75 miles to Orlando to receive treatment at Advent Health Pediatric Cancer Center. Treatment can take hours or in some cases days. At least once a week he travels to Orlando. If he gets so much as a common cold, he must go to the Emergency room in Orlando because he cannot be treated in Melbourne. He can be inpatient for as much as 3 weeks from a common cold.

Mitchell’s CAR T Cell treatment will require a hospital stay of up to 2 weeks and then he must remain within 30 minutes of the hospital for another 2 weeks so he can receive emergency treatment in the event of complications from his therapy. Food, Lodging, and transportation costs are not covered by any insurance. Lodging alone can reach $3000.00 for the two weeks. His family and friends would be forever grateful to any donors out there who would find it in their hearts to give to this little boy and his beautiful family.

Mitchell is loved by all those who know him. He is somehow a celebrity wherever he goes. Everyone seems to know who he is. It is his dynamic personality and his positive outlook that has made him so famous. He rarely complains or has a negative outlook. He makes the most of every day and hopes to be able to swim in his pool once again and play with his friends at school. Now, Mitchell is in a fight for his life once again. The CAR T Cell Therapy is one of the last options he has to beat this cancer because it is so rare. But like Batman says, “Everything’s impossible until somebody does it.” – Bruce Wayne/Batman. Go Mitchell Go - you've got this!