Help Joe Overcome His Acute Myeloid Leukemia Journey

My mom, Julie shared…

On Tuesday June 11, 2024 Joe went into the clinic for an ongoing rash on his lower legs. He had just assumed it was a heat rash from his work boots, but it was persistent and spreading with a mild itch. Labs were drawn for a complete blood work and was referred to a Hematologist and an appt was scheduled before we left the clinic for the following week. Joe also had a chiropractic appt that afternoon for a stiff neck, jaw pain, and headache. This also had been going on for several weeks, but Joe just contributed it to his busy physical lifestyle. He felt upper body relief after the adjustment that day. The next day- Wednesday June 12, the Hematology office called and said- by looking at the combination of his critically low complete blood count levels and his skin rash he needed to go to Mercy ER asap and not even come to our local Cambridge ER. While Marc stayed behind and continued to work on the new house build, Lauren drove Joe down and I left work and met them at a busy ER which we waited another 4 hours to be seen. Finally after many labs drawn, CtScan of head, neck, and abdomen and hours later, Joe was admitted to the floor to an observation room (having no exterior windows) where we anxiously spent 2 depressing nights awaiting blood test results and bone marrow biopsy results. The worst news came- Joe has AML- Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Aggressive 30 day inpatient treatment would begin immediately. Once completed, we need to be in “remission” before we go home. We were given the option to stay at Mercy or go to Abbott. With no difference in treatment- we choose to stay at Mercy being closer to home with family to surround us. In the next days, Joe has been thru countless blood tests, couple of MRIs, bone marrow biopsy, spinal tap, and picc line insertion. We are still trying to process this news and the journey ahead. As Joe and I can’t help but worry about what’s out of our control- our kids and their significant others are amazing! Each one of them stepping up and taking lead on the responsibilities we can’t attend to right now. We are stressing over the fast-approaching deadlines on our new house build, but beyond blessed that Marc is overseeing the continuation with the help of Blake and Brant. Lauren is managing our current rental home and caring for my goats and dog- (dog who clearly misses his mom and hasn’t stopped pacing in days waiting for mom to return home). Today is Father’s Day, and this is not where we thought we’d be. Chemo will be starting this week with a plan coming into place in the next day or two. We trust in God and Joe’s amazing Drs. The medical team have all been so compassionate and caring. We are confident Joe is in excellent hands. We’re blessed for those friends and family who have already reached out to help and show us their love and support, as well as our Pastors at New Hope Community Church praying with us. I ask for continued prayers for our family in the days, weeks, months ahead. Prayers that God will guide us, show us signs that he is with us, give comfort and healing to Joe and take away all our worries and stresses of what we cannot control during this time. As we struggle to understand the “why” right now, we are in Gods hands and He is good. Joe is strong, resilient, a fighter, and a believer in Christ. Joe busts his ass every single day to get shit done… he will bust ass once again to break outta here in remission! Joe, we love you honey… let’s get fired up for this battle and win this fight. ❤️