Help the Will family during Benny's treatments.

We are raising money to help the Will family through this tough time as Benny (11yrs) goes through treatment for cancer. The money raised will help with not only medical bills but also groceries and other expenses needed at this time, as the Will family starts on the road to recovery.

1/9/22 “Benny was diagnosed with T lymphoblastic lymphoma on Sunday January 9. His oncologist assured us that the prognosis is good and very treatable. He expects Benny to make a full recovery. We will start chemotherapy today. They do not anticipate radiation therapy or surgical resection. The doctor said we will be in the hospital for at least another week. We are fortunate that UVA is a Children’s Oncology Group Center and his specific disease is one that can be treated locally.

Benny’s chemotherapy will be a long and protracted course for nearly two years. It will be very time intensive, especially for the first month. He still needs a bone marrow biopsy and a spinal fluid sample to see if there is cancer there as well, that will happen in the near future before we go home. The doctor also said that even if the cancer turns up there he anticipates a strong prognosis.

Benny cried when our doctor told him he has cancer. We all cried together when the doctor walked out. But Benny remains strong and resilient. His personality is to effervescent to remain cordoned off by this weight and it still shines during this dark time.  Strength and anxiety come and go in waves. At one moment he said “this is the worst day of my life.” And at another when the doctor was listing the side effects of chemotherapy and told him “one more thing…your hair will fall out.” Benny chipped back “I thought it would be way worse than that.”

The doctor pulled me out to review the possible side effects of the chemo, needless to say, these drugs are super killers. The long and the short of it is these drugs could effect basically any and every system in the body, but it is the only way forward. The potential side effects are harrowing and devastating, but there is really only one path: forward. So we walk the other we are given. We fight the battle is in front of us, one step at a time, one thing at a time, one day at a time. It’s fight and treat this thing, or the cancer wins. 

And so we fight. But not alone. 

We have been completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from everyone. We still don’t even know what our needs are and yet they are met. We are near speechless from the love you have shown Benny and all of us. Your texts and calls constantly bring tears to our eyes. We appreciate you more than you could ever now. We have learned that our family is so much bigger than we ever knew. We thank you. Much love and gratitude.

-John and Sandra”