Help us save our son Alex from Leukemia!

Hello, my name is Chris, my wife's name is Leigh Ann. Roughly a month ago we were shocked to find out that our son Alex was diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (aka “Philadelphia A.L.L.”) just a few weeks after his 16th birthday. This news, and what has occurred since has turned our families world upside down. We are a middle class family of 6, that up until now have been able to keep our heads just above water paying bills and providing for our family. Very much like most families in America today we were already feeling the immense pressure of the rising costs of food and fuel with a house full of hungry teenagers. We have always been able to do what was needed to get by and are not the type to ask for help or charity which makes writing this rather difficult. However, we find ourselves in a dire situation and have no way to do what is needed to make sure our son gets the treatment he needs.

Alex has always been a naturally athletic, fun loving, and adventurous kid who falls in love with every animal that he's ever seen. He was looking forward to starting this school year and was excited to start driving and had even already gotten accepted at his first job a few days before his diagnosis. So instead of a first job he had his first hospital stay, and his first IV. Instead of his first drive he got his first bone marrow biopsy, and his first lumbar puncture (this is the method for spinal fluid sample collection). Alex has had so many medical related firsts in the past month that we have lost count of the number of times we've all been brought to tears. Within his first 3 weeks he'd lost 30lbs of muscle and struggles to walk. His appetite for the first 3 weeks was dismal at best and his ability to keep food down was the same. Thankfully his appetite has returned but has not yielded any weight gain or return of strength. Because of his age he is considered to be high risk and is being given an aggressive treatment plan as a response. This treatment includes a drug called Imatinib which has been successful in allowing him to start creating his own red blood cells again and has been moving things in a positive direction. This medication is looking to be a real blessing however it comes with an extremely high cost. Our co pay is $3,000 per month as long as insurance will cover it. We have looked in to many assistance programs and alternate pharmacies of various kinds but have had no success with them as of yet due to either being just barely above the income qualifying line or his age.

Before this my wife and I worked full time jobs and struggled to make ends meet same as many middle class families do. Some of our biggest worries were things like how we were going to get new tires for my wife's SUV, keeping up with our $1,200 mortgage, and feeding our ravenous teenage children at $450-$500 per week for groceries.

Now that we are looking at the cost of traveling to get his treatments at Riley Childrens Hospital over an hour from home weekly as a minimum also missing work on a regular basis as well we find that it will be impossible to continue providing for our family as we had previously struggled to do. I have been at my job for less than 1 year rendering me unable to qualify for FMLA meaning job loss is a likely result of the situation. Thankfully Leigh Ann (the breadwinner) will be in a more stable position. However, FMLA does not offer any payment but only provides job security in these situations. All of the funds we had set aside for unexpected expenses has already been used for travel expenses and various needed items for the 2 week initial hospital stay. Our network of friends and family are in similar positions as we were before the diagnosis and are unable to help much with the support of our families needs leaving us no choice but to reach out.

We are in dire need of your help! We've never been a family to ask for assistance before as I had mentioned but find ourselves in a real state of desperation. Before we can even find out what Alex's best possible future looks like we need to find a way to not only afford the $3,000 per month for his treatment but also gas, food, other prescriptions, and unforeseen expenses related to the treatment schedule, on top of continuing to provide for our family while losing many hours of work. We've been told that his treatment plan will be 2-2.5 years in length before we can expect to hear anything about remission. While our prayers focus on our son being restored to full health they also are filled with hopes that we can keep our families home and somehow still be able to keep our heads above water in these trying times. So please if you can help us with anything at all we would be more than thankful for the blessing, and we wish that God blesses you and yours as well.