Tristan's Leukemia Fund

My entire life my big sister Kelly has been there to fight my fights and be my rock. Now she needs my help and I am asking for yours.  

My 14-year-old nephew Tristan was diagnosed with Leukemia (ALL-Type T) on Tuesday. Monday evening Tristan had a fever and a rash and my sister brought him to the emergency room for COVID testing only to receive the devastating news that it was not COVID, but cancer. Tristan was immediately transported by ambulance as his white blood cell count was 400,000 (typical range is 14,000-16,000).

It has been a heartbreaking discovery for everyone who knows and loves this very special child. As his Aunt, one would expect that I would say he is special, but he IS. This child is thoughtful, funny, caring, and kind. He worries about everyone around him, makes all of us laugh with his quick wit and smiling eyes. And as I tell him, he is the reason I have my own two children. I held him the day he was born and at that moment decided I needed a Tristan of my own. Truth be told, there are no other Tristan's, only our Tristan, aka T-man, T,  Sweet T....  We need our T to make it through this because we can't imagine a life without him. 

Tristan started his chemotherapy yesterday at John Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL, and remains in the ICU due to many complications including high Potassium and Uric Acid levels. He also has a mass on his thymus which makes it hard for him to breathe and is putting a lot of pressure on his heart. Due to this, yesterday when they did the bone marrow extraction and spinal tap they were not able to sedate Tristan as they were afraid he would stop breathing. This child went through all of that awake, and alert. He is so strong, and always worrying about his mother and those that love him instead of worrying about his own situation and circumstances.

This is merely the beginning of a very long road for Tristan, Kelly,  and our family. My sister's health insurance will only cover 50% of Tristan's care.  Kelly is self-employed as a residential real estate agent and she will not be able to work while she cares for Tristan and stays with him for the next many weeks. Due to Covid, only my sister can be with Tristan, no other visitors are allowed. This means that Kelly cannot have any relief from her family or friends so that she can work or tend to her business in order to cover the exorbitant medical expenses.

I wish I had the financial means to eliminate the added burden of the medical expenses for my sister that will come with Tristan's care, but I do not. If you have it in your heart and have the means to donate any amount of money it will go directly to the care of Tristan's medical expenses which could easily exceed three times what we are trying to raise, my family and I would be so grateful.