Brian's Leukemia Journey

Brian is an awesome Dad, loving Husband, exceptional Grandpa, and loyal friend to everyone who knows him. Now it's our turn to show him the support he so willingly gives out. 

Early last week my Dad had some routine blood work done as part of his annual physical, and it came back that his white blood cell count was very low. His doctor decided (by the grace of God) to do some additional testing and it came back that my Dad has Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). AML is a rapidly progressing cancer where the myeloid cells interfere with the production of normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. Thankfully the doctors believe that he has only had this cancer for, at the most, weeks.

Thursday morning my Dad left the house ready to go to work, but after meeting with the doctor, he was admitted immediately for a long-term stay at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He has begun the chemotherapy and is doing what they call the 7+3 treatment. 7 days of continuous drip chemo (all day, all night) plus 3 days of an additional chemo drug. On week 2 he will take oral chemo drugs. At the end of week 2 a bone marrow biopsy will be done to make sure the chemo did its job. He will then be able to come home for a couple days to a week, then return to Northwestern for another week of inpatient chemo. After that we have been informed that he will require a bone marrow transplant and spend another 4 weeks in the hospital.

Many of you may know our family’s life has been full of many twists and turns. In the past six years we have dealt with my Dad losing his job and my mom being diagnosed with Parkinson’s. While these past hurdles have been extremely tough, we are ready as a family to take on another hurdle with God by our side and our faith seeing us through.

While we hope that most of my father's major medical expenses will be covered by his health insurance, the medical bills will stack up quickly. I’ve started this GoFundMe to help put my parents mind at ease, so he can focus on the fight ahead.

Please help us carry our Dad through this difficult time - consider donating through this page, send prayers, and lots of good vibes.

Thank you for all your love and support!

With much love and appreciation,
Jess Jancik (Griffin)