Donate to help Sol's Leukemia Treatment

Dear family, friends and kind members of the community,

We are raising funds for my husband Solomon Taan, 51 years old for his life changing medical treatment. Life was going great. He was working hard, had a dream job, excellent health, and a loving wife who he was planning to start a family with.

In July 2023, he was suddenly diagnosed with CML, a type of leukaemia. He didn’t respond to first line treatment and unfortunately the disease progressed to the next stage. Sol then began intensive chemotherapy with one day's notice. Thankfully he responded well and went successfully into remission. We were so happy and relieved with the results.

While recovering, we were told that his chances of relapse were very high and we should consider a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately a suitable donor could not be found on the global search. As a last option we could try a cord blood stem cell transplant using two mismatched donors. It would be a high risk procedure but it could also be a high reward outcome. After considering all the risks we agreed and Sol received his life saving transplant on the 20th December 2023. Thankfully the transplant was a success and he remains in remission.

Unfortunately his recovery has not gone as smoothly as we hoped. Due to the mismatched donors he is suffering from acute Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) which is a common side effect for transplant patients.

He hasn’t been able to eat for over 2 months and can only receive nutrition intravenously. He is unable to leave the hospital until he can eat. He gets weaker with each passing day, which is lowering his ability to recover and increases his risk of further issues and serious complications.

Sol has been unable to work since being diagnosed as he is self-employed. He’s currently on his 4th stint in hospital and his doctors say recovery could take up to a year, during which time, he will be unable to work. This has been very difficult financially but we have struggled through.

Here is where your helping part comes in.

There is a medication called Ruxolitinib that is used in the U.S to treat GVHD. Sadly, this vital medication is not covered by the NHS, meaning that Solomon will need to pay for this medicine himself. The cost is £1538 each month and he will need to raise roughly £18,456 to cover his treatment for the upcoming year so his body can fully recover and he can return to living and working again. There have been lots of positive results with previous patients using Ruxolitinib to treat GVHD.

Thankfully, the medication doesn’t need to be purchased for the entire year in one go and he has the option to purchase it in instalments. So… our goal is to help Sol raise enough money to get his treatment going so he can get back to living and loving his life again.

Anything you can donate and contribute will be such a huge help and will go directly towards the costs of the medicine to help with his life saving treatment. He has come so far since diagnosis and is now so close to being back to good health. If you are unable to donate then please share this around.

We appreciate you taking the time to read our story and for your compassion and support. Thanks so much from the bottom of our hearts and we are forever grateful.