Kaleb’s Fight Against Childhood Cancer

My name is Brad Graul and I have worked along side Matt Willson for the better part of six years now. Any of you who know Matt will know you will not find a more dedicated person to his faith, his family, and foremost his children. Matt and his wife Katt Live in Port Elgin and have 3 kids Amelia (19) Kaleb (16) and Libby (13). Recently they were delt a huge blow when they found out their son Kaleb was suddenly diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma cancer. Along with this life changing news comes a huge additional financial burden. Frequent trips to London hotel stays, meals, gas, mileage, and lost time at work. Unfortunately, at this time their family does not qualify for the Ronald McDonald house as protocols have changed. With the creation of this go fund me account we are hoping to raise enough money to aid the Willson family and help ease some of the undue stress that they have incurred. See the full story below.

Matt and his family were having a typical summer and gearing up to go camping as a family. Two days before they were leaving, Matt’s son Kaleb came home from working at the lumber yard and said that he felt he should go see a Dr. up at the emerge because his neck had become quite swollen on one side during work. He had no other symptoms. On August 30th, Matt and Katt heard the words no parent ever wants to hear… Kaleb has cancer, specifically Hodgkin Lymphoma. More tests were needed to find out how far spread it was and what classification it was. Sent home they were told to wait for a call on when to come back for the rest of the tests that would be needed. The call came quickly, and Kaleb was scheduled to have his PET Scan on September 2,2021. On the first day of school Kaleb was unable to attend as he and his parents were in London finding out the news that he had Stage 4 cancer. He had tests done on his heart and then went into surgery to have his PICC Line installed. The next day was Kaleb’s first day of chemo treatment.

Kaleb is a laid-back teen who is a “man of few words” but has a big heart. He is known to help friends, family, and neighbours with anything from being a caring ear to listen, doing lawn care or even moving furniture. He elected to stay home last school year, to do remote online learning for the entire year so that his little sister would not feel so alone as she was not comfortable with being in the school. Kaleb loves music and could be found playing the Bari Sax in the school bands and Community band before the pandemic hit. During the pandemic he was still able to volunteer doing audio/visual tech at his church and continued to work in the lumber yard.

Since Kaleb was discharged from the hospital in August, he has had to put his job at the Lumber yard on hold at the request of his specialists. Kaleb was working to save for post-secondary school.

Treatment:

Kaleb’s treatment plan is a minimum of 6 cycles of Chemotherapy. His treatment is considered outpatient, meaning weekly trips to London for chemo and any tests that are needed. Each cycle takes 28days. The first 5 days of the cycle Kaleb is in London for chemotherapy every day. Day 8 and Day 15 of a cycle Kaleb goes back to London for more chemo treatments.

Kaleb has a PICC line in his arm that runs through his vein across his chest and all the way to his heart. There are caps and clips attached to the PICC Line that Kaleb needs to be aware of. If they were to fail Kaleb would bleed out. Because of the PICC Line he is unable to play in contact sports, go swimming (it must stay dry) and he is unable to lift weights or work.

How does this all affect Kaleb?

Kaleb struggles with energy, depending on how he is feeling a simple task can take him out for the rest of the day. He has lost feeling in the tips of his fingers (common side effect of the chemo) Kaleb lost his hair within the first 3 weeks of starting treatment. Changing tasted buds has created an aversion to food. A sore mouth is becoming a major battle, causing Kaleb difficulty in keeping weight on his already thin frame. Kaleb can struggle with focus due to the brain fog; chemo can cause. Feeling isolated from friends because his immunity is compromised, and he has limited energy. Unable to work and save for his future has also played a toll in his mind.

Kaleb is in the age bracket where there is a 70% success rate of him beating this cancer. His doctors are optimistic. However due to the chemo drugs they must use, there is a greater risk of developing a new secondary cancer. This journey is a long one and he will face many side effects from his treatments for years to come.

Despite everything Kaleb is trying to stay as positive as possible and has taken on the mantra “it is what it is, just get it done” Kaleb is still attending school as much as possible and working remotely on assignments even while he is receiving chemo through his PICC Line at the hospital.

How you can help:

Having a child with cancer means you must travel back and forth for tests and treatments. London is the closest center that specializes in the treatment needed. Treatments can take anywhere from 4 - 8 hours in the hospital per day plus travel time on top of that. Making it a very long and challenging time for day trips. When Katt and Kaleb are in London for day treatments, Matt needs to take extra time off work to make sure their youngest gets to school ok. On the 5 day stretches of chemo (at the beginning of a cycle) Matt needs to take a full week of work off. At this time their family does not qualify for the Ronald McDonald house as protocols have changed, as well as Kaleb not being admitted for treatment. All of these add financial strain to the single income family, hotel stays, meals, gas, milage, and loss time at work.

Diagnoses Journey:

Thursday Aug 12, 2021 Kaleb went to Southampton hospital due to swollen Lymph node in his neck.

Friday Aug 13, 2021 Kaleb was admitted into London Children’s hospital for observation and further tests

Monday Aug 16,2021 bloodwork came back and there was no indication of Leukaemia

Thursday Aug 19, 2021 Kaleb had an open Lymph node biopsy on his neck and had 2 bone marrow aspirations on each of his hip bones

Friday Aug 20, 2021 Kaleb was discharged from hospital, bone marrow tests confirmed it is not Leukaemia and no signs of Lymphoma in his bone.

Monday Aug 30, 2021 Back to London for results - Kaleb has Hodgkin Lymphoma. More tests are needed to determine what stage and classification.

September 2, 2021 PET Scan in London

Tuesday Sept 7, 2021 Back in London for a week as an outpatient, Echocardiogram/ECG tests, Kaleb’s updated diagnosis is Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma – still waiting to hear back from the Tumor Board to find out the classification, Kaleb has surgery to have PICC Line installed

Wednesday Sept 8, 2021 Kaleb starts his first day of chemo

Wednesday Sept 22, 2021 Full diagnosis is Stage 4b Hodgkin Lymphoma, the cancer is in his neck, chest, lungs and abdomen. There are also signs of cancer on his one hip bone. The plan is to continue Chemotherapy till the end of cycle 2 and then have more tests done to re-evaluate how the cancer is responding and if it has spread. The specialist will then determine if they need to add more treatment time onto the chemotherapy with radiation.

If you would like to continue following their journey, they have a blog that is updated regularly https://livinglifeundone.blogspot.com