Treatment for Jarred

With a heavy heart, we are opening this GoFundme to raise money to help Jarred Risling and his family with costs related to his recent cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatment for his heart surgery.

Jarred's life took an unexpected turn earlier this year in June when he had to have open heart surgery to remove a thrombosis (clotting of blood) the size of a 3cm marble from his left ventricle and a mitral valve replacement to repair his leaky valve. Recovery for his heart surgery is still ongoing and will continue throughout his treatment for cancer.

Then, in mid-October, Jarred was taken back to the hospital after suffering from ongoing headaches and vision loss. Within a day, he was diagnosed with leukemia, and later doctors confirmed it was two forms of acute leukemia – AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia) and ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia).

As you can imagine, it's been a long road and receiving this devastating news just three and half months later has taken a toll. Jarred however, remains in high spirits and his courage and determination to beat this disease are nothing short of inspiring.

While rare to have two forms of leukemia at the same time, the doctors remain optimistic that they've caught it early and that Jarred can make a full recovery. Undergoing chemo treatments currently for the next couple weeks, the doctors are hoping that after this round Jarred's cancer will go into remission. Once he's in remission he will be able to look for a stem cell transplant which can cure him of his leukemia.

Should he not be in remission after this round of treatment, chemo treatments will continue until the cancer moves into remission.

At only 35 years old, the stem cell treatment is Jarred's best case at returning to his previous quality of life prior to his diagnosis. The stem cell transplant needs to be done in Calgary as the treatment is not available in Edmonton, where Jarred and his family live. Treatment will take 3 months in Calgary, one month in hospital and another two months as an out-patient. An out-patient is required to stay at most 10 minutes away from the hospital and needs to go into the hospital at least once a day.

We've started this fundraiser to help raise money to pay for Jarred's stay in Calgary, to help cover current costs of family going to the hospital to stay with him, and to help pay for any additional treatment he may need.

Having had a major heart surgery and now cancer treatment, there are also additional costs to cover medication related to both treatments.

Donations will also be used to help family cover costs of staying close by in Calgary to help drive him to appointments, as he is unable to drive himself, and to find a solution for his dog while he is away. Any donation you are able to provide, will help lessen the burden of these costs in this uncertain time.

If you would like to help, please consider donating to this fundraiser and consider sharing this GoFundMe so others may also help.

If you are unable to donate, another way to help would be to sign-up as a stem cell donor. Each of Jarred's siblings has a 25% chance of being a stem cell match for him. If none of them are a match, we will be turning to the registry to see if there is one there. By signing up to be a stem cell donor - a procedure that has come a long way and is much more manageable for donors and patients - you could provide the treatment to save a life one day.

For more information on eligibility and how to sign up, please visit this link: https://makeallthedifference.blood.ca/stem-cells-1/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=national-stem&utm_content=permax&gclid=CjwKCAjw-eKpBhAbEiwAqFL0mmDnWQYd6J9f5GOuOOOnREIoTGAhymmswIfebWnO4JvReUpLJA7aEhoCwbAQAvD_BwE