Support Andy and the King family battle Leukemia!!

Who this will help

Hi, we are Josh and Melissa, and we are raising money for Andy King and the King family as they begin their overwhelming battle with Andy's Acute Myeloid Leukemia!

Why I'm fundraising

I am going to start at the beginning so everyone can get caught up and see how we found ourselves at Colorado Blood Cancer Institute.

On Wednesday December 20th Andy got up and went to work, he had been exceptionally tired and his mouth was bugging him but he still went. Around 10am he called m

e and said he couldn't stand it so made an appointment with his Primary Care doctor for 11am. When he got there his oxygen was in the 70s (95 or above is what a healthy person would have) so they immediately put him on oxygen. They did a full blood work up and then sent him to get a chest x-ray done. He came home tired and not feeling well. Cooper went to pick up his prescriptions an antibiotic, steroids and medicine for the Thrush infection he had in his mouth. They called and confirmed that the x-ray showed pneumonia and he went to bed. The kids and I thought he could use some quiet so we went to get pizza and were going to go watch the girls Stargate Varsity basketball game. While we were at the dinner he called me frantic, he had just hung up with the doctor and was instructed to drive immediately to the ER because blood results showed he may have a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in his lungs) and other values were very off. I raced home got him and took him to St Anthony North. They did a CT scan that ruled out the blood clot but were very concerned with his pneumonia ( this was his third time having pneumonia in two months) , the thrush infection and very low blood counts (His WBC was zero) so they admitted him that night.They started him on two IV antibiotics and an oral antibiotic.

The next day we met with the Hematologist/Oncologist and he told us he was concerned that Andy may have Leukemia or Lymphoma but they were also running a million tests to make sure it wasn't something else. Friday he had a bone marrow and lymph node biopsies and Sunday morning we were told it was a form of Leukemia and he would have to be transferred to another hospital to be treated. So on Christmas Eve they loaded him in the ambulance and we came to PSL (Presbyterian Saint Luke) Hospital and more specifically The Colorado Blood Cancer Institute which is located here. He is on a special floor dedicated to patients with blood disease and cancer. It is a nationally recognized center and we feel blessed to be able to get such amazing treatment so close to home.

He has had multiple blood transfusions since arriving trying to keep his Hemoglobin and platelets at an ok level. On Tuesday he had another bone marrow biopsy, at CBCI they like to have their own testing and have pathologists who specialize in blood cancer read the results. We are hoping to have that tomorrow and if we do he will start Chemotherapy on Friday but it seems things change day to day so we will see. He did another CT scan today of his lungs and it is still showing the pneumonia and they are worried he may have a fungal infection so are going to do a Bronchoscopy Friday morning so they know for sure and can treat it correctly. He is on Anti Fungal, Anti Viral and IV antibiotics to help fight infection.

So it has been a crazy week and on Christmas Eve we received a diagnosis that it is some type of Acute Leukemia. On December 28th it was confirmed as Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

He is in a special unit that has strict rules about visitors so if you would like to visit please reach out to me via text but don't be upset if I tell you no, he is exhausted in-between all of this testing and I am sure that Chemo will just make that worse and also has no immune system so you can't even have a sniffle.

One friend set up a meal train (Thank you Janine Haan) if you would like to support us in that way and my sister and brother set up a site where you can purchase GC to feed us and take care of day to day things he or the family may need (both can be found on FB).

The kids are spending their days at home, while I am at the hospital, so invite them to hang or do something fun they could use a break from reality and a lot of hugs.

Andy is going to need love and encouragement to get through this so please text (he may or may not answer, but know he is reading them) and please send cards and pictures I can add to his room.

My goal is to update this daily for right now, so we will see if I can make that happen.

Again thank you to everyone who has reached out, visited offered help, meals, GC, gifts, a listening ear, prayers it is all appreciated.

We are blessed to be loved so well.

Bethany

The impact of your support

Bethany, Andy, Cooper, and Norah are just beginning the long and difficult journey to battle Acute Myeloid Leukemia. They are blessed to have medical insurance and wonderful support of family and friends, however, even the best medical insurance is insufficient in covering all the associated costs of having a family member (especially an economic provider) in long term care. We (Melissa and Josh) are reaching out to everyone to help bridge the considerable gaps that insurance can't cover.

Your donations will 100% go to helping the King's with everything from medical co-pays, medication costs, testing, and groceries to gas, clothing and other essentials.