Leukemia. A word we were not expecting to hear when my 27-year-old brother, Trent, went to a local urgent care to address some nausea and chest pain he had been having. A week later, he was in the ICU and diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of acute leukemia.  Before we could even process our heartbreak, Trent had to fight through an onslaught of life-threatening emergencies and for weeks we were uncertain if he would make it from one day to the next. Luckily, he has come a long way since the early stages of this fight, though we are far from out of the woods. Trent is still undergoing intensive treatment and my family and I have had to make dramatic changes to our living arrangements, work schedules, and daily lives to ensure he is well taken care of and that he is never alone.

Because he is so young, Trent's doctors are treating him with an aggressive regimen of chemo and transfusions. After 7 weeks in the hospital, he has finally been able to temporarily come home while continuing outpatient treatment. He is now in his 2nd round of chemo, with an estimated 6-8 rounds to go and a bone marrow transplant on the horizon. It has been incredibly hard, but Trent has faced each new challenge with such bravery and strength. This is going to be a long fight, but we are all remaining hopeful and are here with him every step of the way.

 

It’s hard to ask for help. Especially in the midst of a pandemic and with the holidays not too far off. We have created this support fund to help with Trent’s medical costs and unpaid leave required to get him through his treatments. Anything you can donate at all, or even just sharing this post, means so much to us while we pull together all the community support we can to get this kid well again and back to living his life.

 

A million thanks to everyone who has offered their time, opened their homes, provided rides to and from the hospital, and have given us their support through meals, phone calls, and words of love and encouragement for Trent and our family. I cannot tell you how much it has meant to us during this journey, and we feel incredibly lucky to have this much care and community surrounding us.