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“Learning to die well is learning to live well, and learning to live well is learning to die well.” – Irvin Yalom
I don’t even know where to start. All I do know is that right now should be one of the happiest times for my daughter (Mackenzie) and her fiancé, Aaron Trotter, as they plan for their wedding. But, instead, they’ve stopped planning their wedding and are now having to put all their focus and energy into Aaron’s fight to survive lymphoma so he WILL be around for their wedding day. My hope is to raise funds to help them get through the day-to-day financial burdens while Aaron is not working, as well as have funds available to pay towards Aaron’s medical bills. I would like Aaron just to be able to focus on his health and not stress about finances.
For those of you who don’t know Aaron’s story… Beginning January 22nd, Aaron started feeling off. The first real symptom he noticed was a major headache. Then he started having sweats, fevers, muscle pains. It felt like his sinuses were full. He went to the doctor multiple times. He had blood taken. He was put on antibiotics due to his white blood count being elevated. He was tested for COVID 5 times and all came back negative. He had a CT scan to check his sinuses. The doctor was coming up with nothing. Then Sunday evening, February 7th, Aaron developed a fever of 104 degrees he couldn’t get to come down. Mackenzie took him to the ER in the wee hours of the morning on February 8. The ER doctor took blood samples to see what was going on. Aaron was given a choice to be admitted to the hospital or go home and wait for test results. He chose to go home. Later that day, Aaron got the call and was told to admit himself to the hospital within three hours. He had blood cancer. The next day he found out it was lymphoma and a few days later the doctor and pathologist thought it was acting like Burkitt’s lymphoma. Aggressive treatment needed to be started right away. Cancer was everywhere, including his central nervous system. Later he learned they thought he had B-Cell Lymphoma. If that wasn’t bad enough, both Aaron and Mackenzie’s hands-on support system were taken away. Except for a few days, this past month Aaron had to go through chemo alone and Mackenzie had to be at home alone. Mackenzie’s work was not being cooperative to have her work from Aaron’s hospital room. (She decided to leave that employer. Spending time with Aaron was more important.) Then COVID became a major part of the equation. Aaron was exposed to COVID from a family member a couple days into his hospital stay. In this first month of Aaron being in the hospital, 3 family members, and then just last week, Aaron and Mackenzie, tested positive for COVID. Thankfully, Aaron was able to get the antibody infusion right away and his COVID symptoms so far are mild. But this also meant no more visitors still. Aaron is required to be in quarantine for twenty days due to his low immune system. His chemo treatment ended up being delayed to make sure his body was recovering from chemo while fighting COVID. He was moved from a spacious room on the oncology floor to a very small room he referred to as a “cell” in the COVID wing. His mental health was at risk. Going through chemo treatments alone, worrying about finances, his loved ones at home with COVID or being quarantined and now he and Mackenzie positive with COVID was just getting to be too much. Thankfully, the doctor heard his concerns and now that he’s done with his first round of chemo, he’s been allowed to finish out his quarantine at home. He was discharged from the hospital Friday, March 5. He was in the hospital for 26 days. The next step in his treatment plan at this point is unknown. He’s not sure how him being positive with COVID plays into his treatment. He’s not 100% sure what type of lymphoma he has. He’s hoping for answers tomorrow (March 8th) as he has a consultation set up with Nebraska Medicine to go over his next round of treatment.
This is such a scary, unknown time, for Aaron and Mackenzie. We hope and pray this next round of treatment goes smoother. We hope Mackenzie will be allowed to be by his side through treatment. And we hope raising funds to help them with some of their financial hardships will allow them to focus on Aaron’s treatment and each other.
#AaronStrong
I don’t even know where to start. All I do know is that right now should be one of the happiest times for my daughter (Mackenzie) and her fiancé, Aaron Trotter, as they plan for their wedding. But, instead, they’ve stopped planning their wedding and are now having to put all their focus and energy into Aaron’s fight to survive lymphoma so he WILL be around for their wedding day. My hope is to raise funds to help them get through the day-to-day financial burdens while Aaron is not working, as well as have funds available to pay towards Aaron’s medical bills. I would like Aaron just to be able to focus on his health and not stress about finances.
For those of you who don’t know Aaron’s story… Beginning January 22nd, Aaron started feeling off. The first real symptom he noticed was a major headache. Then he started having sweats, fevers, muscle pains. It felt like his sinuses were full. He went to the doctor multiple times. He had blood taken. He was put on antibiotics due to his white blood count being elevated. He was tested for COVID 5 times and all came back negative. He had a CT scan to check his sinuses. The doctor was coming up with nothing. Then Sunday evening, February 7th, Aaron developed a fever of 104 degrees he couldn’t get to come down. Mackenzie took him to the ER in the wee hours of the morning on February 8. The ER doctor took blood samples to see what was going on. Aaron was given a choice to be admitted to the hospital or go home and wait for test results. He chose to go home. Later that day, Aaron got the call and was told to admit himself to the hospital within three hours. He had blood cancer. The next day he found out it was lymphoma and a few days later the doctor and pathologist thought it was acting like Burkitt’s lymphoma. Aggressive treatment needed to be started right away. Cancer was everywhere, including his central nervous system. Later he learned they thought he had B-Cell Lymphoma. If that wasn’t bad enough, both Aaron and Mackenzie’s hands-on support system were taken away. Except for a few days, this past month Aaron had to go through chemo alone and Mackenzie had to be at home alone. Mackenzie’s work was not being cooperative to have her work from Aaron’s hospital room. (She decided to leave that employer. Spending time with Aaron was more important.) Then COVID became a major part of the equation. Aaron was exposed to COVID from a family member a couple days into his hospital stay. In this first month of Aaron being in the hospital, 3 family members, and then just last week, Aaron and Mackenzie, tested positive for COVID. Thankfully, Aaron was able to get the antibody infusion right away and his COVID symptoms so far are mild. But this also meant no more visitors still. Aaron is required to be in quarantine for twenty days due to his low immune system. His chemo treatment ended up being delayed to make sure his body was recovering from chemo while fighting COVID. He was moved from a spacious room on the oncology floor to a very small room he referred to as a “cell” in the COVID wing. His mental health was at risk. Going through chemo treatments alone, worrying about finances, his loved ones at home with COVID or being quarantined and now he and Mackenzie positive with COVID was just getting to be too much. Thankfully, the doctor heard his concerns and now that he’s done with his first round of chemo, he’s been allowed to finish out his quarantine at home. He was discharged from the hospital Friday, March 5. He was in the hospital for 26 days. The next step in his treatment plan at this point is unknown. He’s not sure how him being positive with COVID plays into his treatment. He’s not 100% sure what type of lymphoma he has. He’s hoping for answers tomorrow (March 8th) as he has a consultation set up with Nebraska Medicine to go over his next round of treatment.
This is such a scary, unknown time, for Aaron and Mackenzie. We hope and pray this next round of treatment goes smoother. We hope Mackenzie will be allowed to be by his side through treatment. And we hope raising funds to help them with some of their financial hardships will allow them to focus on Aaron’s treatment and each other.
#AaronStrong