Help Ethan Fight Leukemia

My name is Laverne Hendrix and I am asking for help for my grandson and his mom and dad in our family's fight with leukemia.

We first want to give our deepest thanks to you, our incredible community, for your support, regardless of its form. You mean the world to us and we feel immensely grateful to feel loved and supported during this difficult time.

On September 14, 2023, my grandson, Ethan, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). His parents, Tami and Joseph, and family are still in shock and will be processing this news for some time.

A week before Ethan's diagnosis, he started feeling gut pain that progressed to shortness of breath, lightheadedness and weakness. Ethan was brought to the doctor office and his bloodwork indicated low platelets. Afterwards a bone marrow biopsy was done and it confirmed that Ethan has leukemia.

The good news: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is the most common type of childhood cancer and has a 90% survival rate. We are also extraordinarily lucky and grateful to be in the care of Kaiser Permanente Roseville for Ethan's condition. ALL comes on quickly and we were able to get immediate high-quality care. At the moment, it’s too soon to say how everything is working, but Ethan is generally in good spirits. He has an infection that has to be addressed before treatment can begin.

The more difficult news: Although the statistics of recovery are on our side, there still are many risks and we are at the beginning of a very long journey. We are told that, typically, the length of care for ALL lasts 2.5 years. Our first month will be spent here in the hospital while the the infection is addressed and initial chemotherapy is administered and monitored. Once Ethan is in remission, the rest of recovery can (amazingly!) be spent mostly at home with weekly+ visits to a nearby lab and to the hospital for chemo.

It is too soon for us to know exactly how much Ethan's medical bills will amount to, therefore we are fundraising for the following:

1+ month hospital stay (bi-weekly lumbar punctures, four different types of chemo, a whole boatload of other drugs, blood & platelet transfusions, bone marrow tests

daily blood tests, etc.)

2.5 years of weekly blood labs, chemo drugs and other procedures

Living and travel expenses as Tami will have to stay home to care for Ethan until we beat this disease.

Any funds left over after this treatment beyond these costs will be saved until Ethan can make a decision of his own about how to “Pay it Forward” to other children who are going through a similar situation.

We are so proud of by the strength and resilience that Ethan has shown so far and he agrees with Gramma that being in the hospital sucks. He is a fighter and we are determined to get through this challenge as a family with love and positivity. We love him so much and want to help him as best we can through this journey. Ethan is so full of life, curiosity, confidence, independence and laughter and we cannot wait to return to some kind of normal routine!

We are amazed by the level of care we all are getting. The balance of professionalism and empathy by all the staff — doctors, fellows, residents, nurses, specialists, social workers, therapists, (even a therapy dog that reminded him of Gramma's). It’s very clear that we could not be in better hands.

Finally, we want to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts in advance. We love our community so much and feel incredibly grateful for the love and support we have received so far. If you feel so inclined, please feel free to forward this campaign. Thank you!

A crash course in ALL:

This is all very new to us. We had no knowledge of how Leukemia works prior to a few days ago, so if it’s helpful, here’s a bit of what we’ve learned: Leukemia is the cancer of blood-forming cells. White blood cells (which help fight infections), red blood cells (which move oxygen through our body), and platelets (which help our blood clot) are all formed in our bone marrow. A healthy body has a normal ratio of white and red blood cells and platelets. In Ethan’s case, his body is making way too many immature and cancerous white blood cells so there was no space for healthy red blood cells and platelets to be created. ALL is treated with several types of drugs, including chemotherapy. The goal of this first month in the hospital is to get him into remission. If you’d like to find out more about Ethan’s condition, here is a good site: www.childrensoncologygroup.org.

One quick note

As we continue to be presented with new information directly from Ethan's doctors each day regarding his condition and prognosis specifically, we kindly ask that you refrain from sharing medical advice or personal research for the time being. Thank you!

We hope to post updates on Ethan's condition periodically. In the meantime, here are some photos of Ethan. We hope his amazing spirit and joy of life shines through