Battling 2 Aggressive Leukemia (ALL)(AML)

I am Lyudmila, his grandmother, reaching out to you with a heavy heart, as my beloved grandson is battling two aggressive forms of Leukemia. He was diagnosed in late October when he arrived at the ER on the brink of collapsing both his lungs and heart failure. As you can see in the picture below, his chest cavity was filled with fluid pushing against his lungs, making it extremely difficult for him to breathe. His heart was also affected, with his heart rate averaging between 140 and 200 beats per minute.

My daughter's family has done everything in their power to support him during this difficult time, but the burden has become overwhelming. That's why I am humbly asking for your help. Any contribution you can make, no matter how small, will go a long way in easing their financial burden and giving my grandson the care he needs.

Your generosity will help his family’s expenses associated with this difficult situation, but it will also give him hope and strength as he battles this dreadful disease. Please consider donating to this worthy cause and sharing this campaign with your network. If you'd like to donate somewhere else, please contact me.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and may God bless you abundantly.

Story

Prior to his diagnosis, he had endured three weeks of sleepless nights due to the inability to lie flat without experiencing difficulty breathing. He struggled to perform even the simplest of tasks due to his low endurance. The doctors were unable to diagnose him for 3.5 months, only giving the prognosis of lymphoma. Either way, the news was devasting for his parents.

During his first three days in the hospital, he underwent more than 10 procedures, which took a significant toll on his body. One of these procedures involved using a needle similar to an epidural needle to vacuum out the fluid surrounding his lungs, but the doctors encountered problems with adding enough numbing agents and administering pain medication, which did not provide much relief. As they removed the fluid, my grandson experienced excruciating pain as the pressure in his chest cavity was relieved and the fluid entered his lungs. He became the loudest patient in the hospital for the next hour and they extracted four times the amount of liquid they had anticipated. Over the next five hours, he coughed out liquid from his inside his lungs and vomited while struggling to breathe, with only 1-3 second intervals between attempts.

In the days that followed, he was transported between hospitals for various procedures. At the heart hospital, the first step was to drain the fluid from his heart sac. This involved inserting a needle into his lower abdomen and guiding it toward his heart. Despite receiving light sedation, he still felt great affliction during the procedure. Soon after, he underwent surgery to create an opening in his heart sac to prevent more fluid from accumulating. Additionally, chest tubes were inserted - one into his heart and another under his armpit for his lungs. Unfortunately, these tubes caused even more discomfort as they rubbed against his already tender insides.

After the initial procedures, more followed, as his diagnosis was still unknown. His parents had to consider treatment options as fluid continued to accumulate in his chest and tumors appeared. Chemotherapy was the only viable option, and he underwent five cycles that were both lengthy and toxic. Throughout these months, he experienced excruciating pain that was difficult to diagnose and manage with medication. He also had to undergo eight bone biopsies and over a dozen spinal taps and chemo infusions. After conducting thorough tests, the doctors reached a rare and complicated diagnosis of both Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Acute Myeloid Leukemia. This required specialized chemotherapy, which led to a three-day board meeting involving top doctors and hospital administrators to discuss the best course of action for his treatment.

Allogeneic Bone Transplant

Recently, he underwent an Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant which involved more toxic chemotherapy and full-body radiation. Following the pre-treatment, he received a bone marrow transplant from my granddaughter who was a perfect match.

Currently, he is in the recovery process outside the Cancer Hospital following the transplant and is staying at a hotel for the next few months. He isn’t out of the woods yet, doctors will still continue monitoring for the next 5 years for any transplant complications or resurgence of cancer. I thank God for guiding my grandson through this challenging journey and enabling him to maintain a positive spirit as he makes a quick recovery. Every day, I pray for his complete recovery, so he can return to his family with his usual energetic attitude. He has an unbeatable work ethic in anything he does no matter the size, while being selfless in times that require the most of him. His studies in Computer/Electrical Engineering at UNL is currently on hold but will be coming back to it as soon as he can. Within the community, he serves his church, youth group, soundcrew and many other teamwork projects. He was a missionary to Mexico on several occasions, as well as going to Poland to help the Ukrainian Refugees. Throughout the years, He also served many ministers in large events that involved numerous states. Even amid challenging circumstances, he has exhibited a strength of character and peaceful faith, demonstrating his unwavering belief in a positive outcome for both his current situation and future life.

I humbly ask for the help of anyone who is able to assist my dear grandson's family with the expenses associated with this difficult situation, including the complex recovery process and care that involves the whole family. They have utilized all their means and are now unable to handle it alone. If you feel compelled to assist, please consider helping. May those who read this be blessed, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Keep us in your prayers.

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