This is a real good new-bad news report.

Theoretically, if you are reading this, you know Shai. I don't think I need to waste much time to tell you he's an incredible person. He is wonderfully kind and altruistic; he has spent nearly 20 years as a volunteer in the local fire and EMS departments and is now a paramedic. He is always willing to help those around him to fix a problem or get the help they need, whether it's medical, mechanical, or magical! He is as good as they come.

Recently Shai went in for what was expected to be an uneventful outpatient surgery. Unfortunately, it was not known at the time that Shai's spleen was greatly enlarged. Almost immediately after surgery started, his spleen was lacerated, the surgery was abandoned, and he had an unexpected hospitalization. It also led to about a month of lots of testing and appointments with specialists and bloodwork, bloodwork, bloodwork. It was a difficult stretch for the Walkers to have something wrong with Shai, but not have any real idea of what he was facing. On Valentine's Day, Shai finally got a diagnosis from his Hematologist: Hairy Cell Leukemia. It is a rare Leukemia with approximately 1000 cases in the US annually. The good news is that while this is cancer, it's considered very treatable. Most people diagnosed will see a remission after a round or two of chemotherapy. For Shai the first round of treatment has already begun and will last approximately 12 weeks. It is hoped that at the end of this he will be in remission and will only need monitoring (for the rest of his life) and will not need to undergo a second round of chemo. The end of this is all unknown at this point.

The Walkers were initially frightened with a cancer diagnosis. But in typical Walker form, they dove into the research, got informed, and made new plans for how life was going to go. You can fight the cancer, but not the show it makes, so you may as well roll with the punches. They have been doing their best to keep things as normal as possible for their two young children, Addie (3) and Ella (1). The girls know something is going on--that daddy had lots of booboos on his tummy and they needed to be very gentle with him and still do. Fortunately, the full scope of this is mostly above their heads and perhaps, hopefully, won't even be a memory in a few years. In large part, the bulk of what was shared in the household has shifted to Sabrina, who is doing her best to take it all in stride and keep everyone's boat afloat. She knows she has a wonderful community around her that is willing to help.

The big thing that they could use the most help with is the financial implications of cancer and its secondary costs. There are the obvious medical costs of getting to a diagnosis and then treatment, as well as travel, lost wages, and needing to hire help, etc... They would be incredibly grateful for any contribution that you would be willing to make. Additionally, Shai has been puttering at some small woodworking projects to keep his mind and hands busy. If you'd prefer to support them by purchasing his woodwork, you can check out his work on instagram, SSWalker_woodworking, and check out the sales website. Please excuse any errors.

https://sswalkerwoodworks.square.site/