Ken "Lumpy" Leyhe has multiple myeloma cancer

My name is Mindy and I am fundraising for my friend Samantha Chappell, her fiance Ken, as well as their pets.

Ken's health started getting really bad at the end of December and worsened into January. Ken was losing a lot of weight and was having constant lower back pain and they weren’t sure why. His primary doctor was unable to see him in person.

On January 14th he fell as he was walking and, while Samantha was able to get him to a standing position on her own, he no longer had the strength to stand on his own. Sam called an ambulance and he was rushed to the hospital. It was after hours so she was unable to go with him due to hospital policy.

After about 3 days with no answers, a doctor came in and told them the news - he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is bone marrow cancer.

This news is absolutely devastating, as Sam's mom is also currently battling cancer and their cat got sick the day after Ken went to the hospital. While Sam's mom fought (and beat) lung cancer she is currently dealing with brain cancer. Their cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and now requires daily medication. They also have a dog and gecko to take care of, as well.

On January 26th they were talking about discharging him to an inpatient rehab facility on the next day, but he got an infection in his blood so they had to wait to put in his PICC line, delaying discharge from the hospital.

As of now, they are treating his blood infection and plan to put the PICC line in tomorrow (Jan 28).

Hopefully, he will be discharged and transferred to rehab/physical therapy by Monday, Jan 30th. This will be inpatient and they don’t know how long he will be there. After going through rehab to get his heart and body stronger, then Ken will be able to begin chemo and cancer treatments.

They already know where he will be going for the treatments, and it is an hour away from their house. The reality of this is that Sam will have to take 1-2 days off work per week to take him.

Samantha runs a child care center and has had to take a lot of time off work already to be with him. This also puts her behind on paperwork and things at work. Samantha is now the only income for their household and they're facing a lot of upcoming medical bills. If it wasn't bad enough, their refrigerator and freezer stopped working sometime in the last 2 weeks and everything had to be thrown out. Samantha's last paycheck barely covered their rent.

Samantha wants everyone to know that they "appreciate any and all help. Every little bit helps."