Help Don beat leukemia

Don Shumate is a Husband, a Father, an Uncle, a Brother, a Son, an Air Force Veteran and a Cancer patient.

In 2014, our sister Anne met the man of her dreams. He was literally an answer to her prayers and he has continued to be the answer to her prayers ever since. Now we pray for him, but in a different way.

Don retired from the Air Force after 21 years. Not too many months later though he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He had his first procedure to begin treatment and prepare for a bone marrow transplant in mid-June of 2020. Now a year later he still continues this fight. Fortunately he has a wonderful team of providers at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. Unfortunately, there have been many ups and downs during his treatment and recovery process and he’s spent more time in the hospital than what is ‘typical.’ Nobody could have predicted the length of time he would be spending there, literally fighting for his life. There have been multiple treatments over the past many months and his doctors don't know how he has continued to fight this hard.

Don is one of the strongest people we know. He is also one of the most caring and generous. Don is the type of man that will do anything for anyone, no questions asked. Our sister, Anne, is also one of the strongest and kindest people. Anne and Don prefer to be the ones to give more than receive. They do not like to ask for help. But now, after many months of Don being in the hospital with Anne the only one that can be with him (due to COVID safety protocol) we feel it is time to offer some more help and support. The out-of-pocket medical expenses, gas for running back and forth from Green Bay to Milwaukee, renting a second home for much longer than expected and both Anne and Don being off work for longer than planned (unfortunately FMLA is now exhausted)... among other things, it’s all really starting to add up. They need our help.

We want them to know just how loved they are and want to help ease at least some of their burdens if we can.

Thank you for considering.

Sarah & Kelly