My good friend Jon Melim-Honore has been recently diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. You may know Jon as an aspiring actor who has studied and performed in theatre at Long Beach City College as well as at South Coast Repertory’s summer acting intensive program and their production of A Christmas Carol in 2014. He is a vibrant, hard-working guy and his recent diagnosis has blindsided us all.

Up until this week, Jon was working full-time in order to make enough money to put himself through school. He started experiencing prolonged headaches and thought it was from working so much-- something all of us can relate to—and so he pushed through the bad days. But the headaches persisted, and the bad days became worse. Jon sought medical attention in the first week of October and, after several days of testing, they concluded that his symptoms reflect acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Normally, acute lymphoblastic leukemia is found in children 2-5 years old and has an 80% success rate of beating the cancer with chemotherapy treatment. Unfortunately, adults do not respond as well with this treatment (20-40% success rate) and repeated chemo treatments are required to attack the cancer—Jon will be hospitalized for the next 2 months at the very minimum, and could be in chemo treatment for as long as 2 years from now. We won’t let the statistics get in the way of our faith that Jon will pull through this, but he will need all the prayers and help he can get.

It’s scary enough to be under 30 and diagnosed with cancer, let alone an aggressive blood cancer that has a lower success rate of beating it. We aim to provide him with prayers, help, and support to BEAT THE CANCER. Jon’s insurance does not cover the whole cost of his treatments or hospital stays, and there will be many more of them to come in the near future. In addition, Jon will most likely be unable to work while undergoing treatment, and we hope to raise enough money to offset both his medical expenses and meager living expenses while he’s in the hospital. What a blessing it would be to provide him with assistance of any kind to help make life a little bit easier during this time of great challenge.

Anything you can share with Jon would be amazing - $1, $5, $10 – we know that a lot of his friends are students, so don’t feel pressured to contribute beyond your means (he knows where you’re coming from!) But if you could give $20, $40, or $100 or more, it would mean Jon could focus on beating cancer instead of worrying about going into debt over medical bills.

Thank you so much for reading, for your contributions, and for your prayers. We know Jon can beat this with our love and support!

#helpjonfight