Help Bronson Beat Acute Myeloid Leukemia

On October 25, 2024, my whole world was turned upside down and I had to hear the words no parent should ever have to hear: “I’m sorry, but he does have cancer.”

My sweet boy, Bronson Cole, is a spunky 6-year-old little boy who just started kindergarten this year and still has his whole life ahead of him. He has already been through so much in his short time on this earth that no child should endure, but the good Lord has always come through for him. Other than his NICU stay upon birth, he’s been a very healthy little boy. Around April this year, he started having some random bruising and weight loss that we just attributed to the medicine he was on and not being the best eater because he is your average picky 6-year-old. Fast forward to the end of June of this year, and he started developing some pretty serious-looking random bruising and leg pain, but once again, it was just attributed to being your average little boy and growing pains. Now we have come to his 6-year check-up, and his pediatrician is starting to get very concerned about how bad the bruising is and the leg pain, along with just how pale he was overall and some other symptoms he’s been experiencing the last couple of months. He’s sent to get some basic labs, not thinking much besides maybe some vitamin deficiencies and low iron. Within an hour of his labs being drawn, I am being called to get him back to Children’s Hospital ASAP due to how critical his labs ended up being. He was instantly admitted and had more labs drawn to double-check that the previous ones were actually accurate and it wasn’t a fluke. He spent the night on the oncology floor awaiting morning to come to see the oncologist for her to walk in the room and confirm that he indeed has Leukemia. Acute Myeloid Leukemia, to be exact.

As of this morning, 10-27-2024, I was made aware that this will be a 6-7 month long treatment, and that’s according to how well his body responds to the treatment. Bronson will have to stay in the hospital 30 days at a time for treatment, with only a week out of the hospital between each treatment. Upon reaching the third month of treatment, he will begin to receive bone marrow transplants and will have to travel to Nashville for those, which require a short stay down there as well. As a single mother who is his main provider and caretaker, I have to obviously be out of work during this time to take care of him and be there for him. While I do qualify for FMLA and will have my job there for me when we end up beating this nasty cancer, our FMLA is not paid. Going 7 months without any income is going to be a huge financial stress on me, and while I am not one to ask for any help and always try to figure things out myself, this is a time and situation that is absolutely out of my control, and the only thing I know to do is to put my pride aside and ask for help. I understand times are hard for everyone right now with the economy we currently live in, but if you feel led to contribute, it would be greatly appreciated more than you could ever imagine. If you can’t contribute financially, we ask you to just remember me and him in your prayers.