Nick's Road to Recovery from Leukemia (MPAL).

Hi, my name is Steve, and I am raising money to help my 19-year-old son Nick and our family through his cancer journey. On June 27, 2021, our lives were changed dramatically. Nick was beginning to feel under the weather a few days prior with minor symptoms. On June 26th, he visited his cousin in Sycamore, Illinois, and his stomach pain had worsened, so he decided to have his cousin take him to the local ER. They ran the usual tests, and Nick said he would call me when he got the results. Late that evening, Nick called to tell me that the nurse would contact me with details and said they were transferring him to Northwestern Memorial in downtown Chicago. The nurse called me to explain his blood work was unusual, and they needed to send him to another hospital more equipped to treat whatever he had. The next morning, as we were sitting in Nick's hospital room discussing how they would probably give him an antibiotic and send him home, a team of about ten doctors and nurses walked into the room. The one head doctor looked at us and said those words no parent wants to hear, "Nick, we are 100% certain that you have Leukemia, and we are all here to make sure we do everything we can to help you recover."

The following eight months have been a rollercoaster of emotions and hardships. Fortunately, Nick is currently on the road to recovery after four rounds of chemo, one of radiation and stem cell transplant. Financially, this has set both Nick and our family back significantly. Nick was working and saving for college in the fall and had to stop. He spent nearly six months total in the hospital due to numerous infections, complications from the treatments he was getting, and for receiving the treatments themselves. Every day and sometimes twice daily, I would be going downtown to visit him and was very limited on time to work as well. With time off of work for both of us, transportation costs, food costs, insurance copays (when things weren't covered) and prescription/over-the-counter expenses, we are asking for your help. Nick is improving but still will be out of work for the foreseeable future. He continues to have weekly doctor appointments and outpatient treatments that sometimes last all day. His treatment is ongoing and is expected to continue for another 2-3 years. We are so grateful for all the prayers, thoughts, and help from our friends and family. We still have a long way to go to fully recover, but we will get through with continued support and prayers. Thank you for taking your time to donate, share, or even read this.