Symington family fighting Leukemia

I will try to make this as short and sweet as possible but there is only one way to put this so that its understood. A good friend of mine Shawn Symington and her family are going through that one thing that we all fear, being told that someone that means the world to you may die much sooner than you thought due to CANCER. Many of you may know or recognize Shawn from being a long time resident of Plaquemine Parish and has been  working at Balestra's  for the past 11 years. Her husband James has worked as a diesel mechanic for quite some time now and has always been very good at what he does, even though work kept him away from home quite a bit he did what he had to do for his family. When James was home he would spend as much time with his wife and two young sons, Jaison 11, who attends Belle Chasse middle and Tristan 10, who attends Belle Chasse Primary, as possible. His boys are always so happy to see their daddy and both look up to him tremendously. James has always been a kind man doing what he can for anyone that is in need, family, friend or even a stranger. That’s why when he fell ill it was so hard on everyone that knows him. Initially James went to the Doctor to have his knee checked for unbearable pain, first he was told it was stemming from his back. Then came all the testing! Scans and poking and prodding and they found nothing. His Doctor decided to do a bone density scan on him, which required labs and basic surgery prep. Still waiting for the approval for the scan , one morning James woke up to his wife asking him if he maybe fell out of the bed or smacked his head during the night because he had a pretty big gash on his head and was bleeding. James didn’t recall falling or hurting himself, so it was assumed he just did it in his sleep. Well the days following James developed several more of these mysterious spots on his body which were painful and bleeding. Assuming it was a case of the shingles he headed to his Doctor to have it checked out. THAT DAY THEIR LIFE CHANGED! Once they arrived at the office the Doctor informed them that his bloodwork came back with some scary results and his white blood count was triple what it should be and that could only mean one thing, Leukemia. James was admitted that day into Tulane and put into isolation because at this point they were not sure what type of leukemia it was and if he did in fact have shingles or if it was a result of the cancer. It took about a week of being in the hospital before they knew for sur what type of Leukemia he has which is CML (Chronic myeloid leukemia), on a grading scale it’s one of the worst kind, not that any are a good kind but it’s a very rare and aggressive type of Leukemia. He was in what they call blast phase which is extremely bad, come to find out that sores he has all over his body were NOT shingles but a result of the leukemia. It was basically causing his blood platelets to burst which was causing bruising and sores all over his body. They instantly started Chemo and he had to say in the hospital for 37 days, which of course led to several more long stays. Time away from his children and work and Time his wife had to take off of work. Since being diagnosed James has tried his best to continue to work, be it from home or just lite duty in the office but now that is no longer an option. Starting in October he will no longer have his job and will lose his benefits as well as his insurance. He’s been in and out of the hospital so much I’ve lost count. Every time he’s gotten a chemo treatment he ends up in the hospital for one reason or another due to his depleted nonexistent immune system. His last treatment he ended up catching a nasty intestinal infection and that was yet another week in the hospital for antibiotics. He will be needing to go through a stem cell transplant very soon and when that happens his wife will need to be with him as much as possible. He will not be allowed to be around pets or children under the age of 14, which means he will not see his boys for 100 days if everything goes well. The little income Shawn will be bringing in will barley be enough to feed them let alone pay the bills to keep their home and vehicle.  This is a very humble family and I have seen both Shawn and James go above and beyond to help others in need and now it’s their turn to be the ones in need.  This has been a very rough year for this family with Shawn suddenly losing her brother T.J. last month and literally fighting for James’s life, trying to keep it together and raising 2 young boys I’m just not sure how she does it. I know that if we can ban together and give them one less thing to worry about, one less heart ache, make things go just a little bit smoother it may be just a little donation out of your pocket but it would make the world of difference for them.
BELOW IS A LINK WITH A VIDEO, it explains they type of cancer they are dealing with
http://www.cancercenter.com/leukemia/types/tab/chronic-myeloid-leukemia/