John Acey’s Leukemia fight!

My dad, John Acey was battling covid earlier in October and he seemed to have a hard time getting over it. Despite feeling ok and returning to work after 3 weeks- he was still dealing with some fatigue, so my mom and sister encouraged him to go get checked out by his doctor Monday. The doctor ran some blood work tests, and called a few hours later telling him to go to the ER. More testing was done- and by Tuesday November 3rd we got the unfortunate news- my dad has a rare form of leukemia called T-cell ALL (Acute lymphoblastic leukemia).

This cancer is aggressive, and he made the decision to do some intense chemo that’s starting ASAP in Philadelphia. The even more unfortunate part of this is that he will be hospitalized for the next 5 to 6 weeks while he does this treatment- and no one is allowed to see him but my mom. After the 6 weeks in the Philly hospital- it will be weekly Philly visits for about 6 more months and then if all goes well- a bone marrow transplant.

What’s amazing is that he is still feeling pretty good. He’s not feeling weak, he’s eating well. We want him to get this started while he is still feeling so good- because it will be very hard on his body and comes with many risks- so we want him to be able to tolerate it the best he can. He’s in good spirits and has made peace with whatever happens. The 5 year survival rate is 40-50%, which is much better news than we were told at first. He’s ready to put up a good fight, and luckily he has a big family who loves him very much who will be standing behind him and fighting with him!

We have a very long road ahead. We don’t know how this will go and how sick he will be. My dad is obviously unable to work and will only be getting a portion of his pay through disability. My mom will be going on FMLA to be with him so he’s not alone over the next month and a half- and depending on how his treatment goes- we aren’t sure how soon she will be able to go back to work after that. Between her hotel for the next 6 weeks, a big decrease in income, and medical bills- my dads biggest concern is about my mom having to worry about the cost of all this- especially if something happens to him during treatment. He knows nothing about the internet... haha... so he has no idea I’m doing this (neither does my mom) and would probably not be happy about it. Myself and my siblings will do what we can to help them- but if you find it in your heart to give a few dollars so that money can be the least of their concerns right now and my mom can just be present with my dad to support him- we would be forever grateful. Whether you can donate or not- please send your prayers and good vibes that we can get more time with him- with our first goal getting him home with his family for Christmas- where he can be with his wife, grandchildren, and hopefully all 4 children. 

Thank you so very much for your kindness and consideration for my family during this very difficult time. 


-Vanessa