I'm writing this because tragically as many of you know, Jacob has relapsed with his B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Jacob was first diagnosed with B Cell ALL in Sept 2018. We celebrated 4 years remission on Oct 30, 2022. Jacob had his total right hip replacement surgery scheduled for the beginning of Jan 2023, so he was needing bloodwork before hand. He did bloodwork on Dec 6th that wasn't the greatest and raised our eyebrows. The doctors weren't so concerned. The weeks following Jacob started drenching the bed pillows and his clothes in sweat, feeling a little more tired then normal, and hurt his back. When he hurt his back it wasn't a usual pulled muscle, it was a week long ordeal that had him in convulsions of pain, unable to eat much of anything, and again drenching the bed in sweat. Jacob went to the ER in early January because of the pain in his back. The hospital never did bloodwork. The next day Jacob seen the petechiae on his legs. We took Jacob to our GP to immediately get bloodwork done stat. The next day we got the terrible news Jacob's platelets were at a 14 and needed to check himself into the ER immediately. We called his oncology team at UM and they said to check in the next morning to the UM Health tower in Miami. We did and started testing for the relapse.

We also have a blessing to share with you, we're expecting Jacob Jr. In August 2023. This all has been so much to take in, but the joy Jacob Jr. will bring into our life is just what we need to keep pushing forward. He's already been such a team player and we're beyond excited to meet him.

The first part of treatment consisted of immunotherapy/chemotherapy. Initially the hospital fought us on me being able to stay due to restrictions the hospital put in place because of COVID. This has been such a battle and has caused so much extra anxiety and stress. Thank goodness the rest of his treatment will be at the smaller satellite hospital that lets me stay the whole time. The next part of treatment depends on Jacob's bone marrow biopsy result.

Jacob will be needing a bone marrow transplant after the possible CAR-T cell therapy. It's not yet proven CAR-T can keep someone in a lifelong remission. This will consist of Jacob and myself being in the hospital for 6 more weeks for treatment at the University of Miami Sylvester Cancer Center, in Miami Florida. I will not be able to leave the facility on Sundays, like I did at the main hospital, to wash our clothes, grab food and snacks, etc. There has to be a designated caregiver for Jacob in the hospital for this process and then afterwards for the at home outpatient part of treatment as well. The treatment starts off with radiation 2x a day for 4 days and then 1 bag of chemo to drop Jacob's bone marrow to zero. They then will administer the bone marrow donor cells, almost like a blood transfusion. The rest of the weeks will consist of battling the after effects of the transplant. There's a huge list of things can happen. You can find out all those details on the bethematch.org website. From there we would go home and continue outpatient treatment for 3 - 6 months. This will be another very trying time for us. God willing, this will be the time Jacob's cured of this horrible disease.

I am calling on all our friends & family who would like to help make this entire process a little less heavy, so Jacob and myself can focus on what’s important, kicking cancer’s butt!! While it is hard to anticipate what the final costs will be, we humbly ask for your support. The purpose of this fundraiser is to take some of the financial weight off of Jacob and myself. We still haven't caught up from the first diagnosis. This will help with travel to and from Miami for outpatient appointments, help with food and other items needed while we stay at the hospital, to help with medical costs for Jacob, myself, and the baby and to help with rent and utilities while in the hospital. I'm currently working when I can and have to put life on hold to care for Jacob. Weve been scrapping thanks to my mom and Jacob's dad. They can't carry the weight of this by themselves either, so we're asking for help.

Jacob's shown such courage in what he's been through these past 4+ years. He has the will, strength, and drive to fight this with all that he has for me and our family. Any amount that you find in your heart to help our family is appreciated more than you can ever imagine. Many of you have asked how you can help beyond our fundraiser. There are a few other ways that you can help not just Jacob, but all the other people in need:

-If you are between the ages of 18 and 35, join the bone marrow registry at this link bethematch . 70% of people do not have a fully matched donor in their family and a bone marrow transplant is critical for people with various blood cancers/diseases.

-Sign up to donate blood and platelets.

Every 15 seconds someone in the US needs a platelet donation and platelets only have a 5-day shelf life. Leukemia patients use multiple blood products daily to keep them healthy enough to go through treatment. If you are local here in Palm Beach Gardens, you can give through this OneBlood link (OneBlood Donor portal ). The building is right on Northlake Blvd across from the old Sports Authority.

-For those not here in Palm Beach County, we recommend contacting your local Red Cross for local donation centers. Use this link (Give Blood through Red Cross )

-To learn more about Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), you can visit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society website link (LLS ALL educational link )

-Please keep Jacob close in your prayers. If you are apart of a church, please add him to the prayer list. All of these prayers and good healing energy makes a HUGE difference!

Thank you for all your love and support throughout the years. We truly appreciate it more then you'll ever know. We're going to hold on tight and continue to keep kicking cancers butt one day at a time!!

Keeping all of you in our thoughts and prayers,

Love Jacob and Sarah