John survive until January!

Hi, my name is John and in July of this year I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia; cancer in my bone marrow. I am fundraising to help cover my bills in these last two months of the year. I have been out of work since July, and my savings are nearly drained as I wait for Disability payments to start for me in January. Unfortunately, the math doesn't add up for me to make it there on my own. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

My cancer journey started way back in May as I started having excruciating bouts of bone pain. Prior to my diagnosis, my GP and I tried all sorts of solutions thinking I might have had muscular or skeletal issues, but the pain did not subside. This prevented me from working full time as I simply couldn't make it through full shifts with the amount of pain I was in. After my diagnosis in July, I started chemotherapy and finally started to get some relief from the pain that had plagued me since early May!

I was able to recover at home for around two weeks before my next emergency. My cancer had escaped my blood supply and begun to grow around my spine, putting pressure on my nerves and causing my to lose function in my right hand and arm. After another visit to the ER, I was quickly put on a plan to shoot radiation into my spine for a week followed by more chemo. The radiation worked wonderfully! While I am still working my hand back to full strength today, my range of motion has fully returned.

As was my luck however, I only had about one week in October recovering at home before the real radiation side effects kicked in. My throat started closing up and became incredibly dry and scratchy leaving me nearly unable to eat or drink comfortably, and even made it hard to breath. After one more trip to the ER I was intubated for the next 12 days, stuck in the hospital yet again as my throat healed. In the middle of this recovery I developed a massive pulmonary embolism (blood clot) that my care team sucked out of my blood stream as fast as possible.

My current and future challenges include building up enough strength again to leave the hospital on my own two feet, and preparing for a stem cell transplant over the next few months to hopefully deal with this cancer for good. I have a long road ahead of me, but I'm confident I can make it through!

I remain incredibly thankful for my care team and their response times as I fight through so many health issues this year. I am equally thankful for my wonderful support network of family and friends who have visited me frequently throughout this entire ordeal. Once again any assistance is appreciated! Even if you can't give financially, sharing my story would be a great help. Have a good one!