Help Leslie get the medical care she needs

5/13/24

On Saturday May 11, a little after 2pm, our sweet sweet Leslie slipped from this life into eternity surrounded by loved ones, ushered by songs of praise and tears of heartache, she danced into glory in her new, healed body. It was so fast, and we are still in shock.

Through this whole journey, we've all always said, "You're so strong!" And she was till the last. She kept fighting for her kids. Everyday she "just pushed through". And when she heard someone say how strong she was, she would purse her lips and shake her head and say, "It's not me, it's Christ in me who gives me strength".

We now cling to that same strength as we go on through this life anxiously waiting to join her in the next life. The eternal life, where those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus will be together with her in the presence of our gracious Savior forever.

Thank you all for the overwhelming kindness you've shared with Leslie and the family these past months, but really these past years. She was blown away every time I made a new update by how many people shared it and how many people commented and who all were praying for her and giving towards her healing. You've been the hands and feet of Jesus and we are all so grateful.

It happened so fast. We wish we had more time, more time to update everyone, more time with Leslie, but time is not on our side.

5/6/24

Today Leslie receives the T-cells! Thank you for all the continued prayers! She's endured a lot of different chemos and treatments these past few weeks in preparation for this day. Sandwiched into the tough days, was the sweet marriage of her oldest, Grace. Sharing this photo of some of the joy of that day! Leslie and Donna went straight from the wedding weekend back to the hospital and this morning she is currently receiving premeds to help negate any negative reactions to the T-cells.

T-cells will be administered around 10:30 am. The procedure only takes about 5 mins to receive her cells back. They say it is basically like a transplant procedure.

Please pray with us that there are no rejection reactions and that she will only have to stay the minimum time of 7 days in the hospital for observation.

Her immune system is completely shot, intentionally, so that her body won't reject her improved T-cells. While visitors are allowed, please stay home if you're sick or have been with someone who has been sick. She is obviously compromised.

The doctors are very optimistic for this procedure and so are we. Pray with us that this is the turning point and that God would be glorified in her healing. He has already done so much more than we could have imagined on the journey. We are so blessed by all of you and how much you have shown you care. Thank you again!

4/5/24 Prayer Request for the day ❤ Yesterday they took Leslie's T-cells in a 6 hour procedure and now they are at the infusion center for about 10 hours today to try a different chemo. Pray that she has no minor or severe reactions to this new chemo and that God's peace and strength is felt through the process. Thank you!

UPDATE 4/1/24 Prayers appreciated for my Aunt Leslie and Mom, Donna, as they travel today back to Barnes for another long week.

Praises!

God has been gracious and her symptoms have been mild over the past couple weeks. Her weekly blood work has continued to show her hemoglobin numbers rise... They don't expect that! They even drew extra samples one week to confirm, I don't think they believed that her numbers could really be 9.7. They had almost guaranteed that she would dip below 8 and require a blood transfusion, but she hasn't!

She has had a bit more energy and has been able to gain a bit more weight. She even felt up to shopping at a boutique last week on the way home from blood work! She hasn't been shopping since probably October.

Insurance has approved the car T-cell immunotherapy and is covering the cost.

Prayer requests:

That all the appointments, treatments and procedures go better than could be hoped for, if the Lord wills.

As of right now, Thursday is the day planned for the 6 hour procedure to remove the T-cells from her blood to be spun or aggregated or something, for a few weeks. They then plan to put them back into her blood around the beginning of May. Pray she can rest and be comfortable for those 6 hours.

I have not heard if any negative side effects for this treatment are possible , if so, we pray they are minimal.

The prognosis is quite positive for this treatment on her specific type of cancer, though, so praise God for that!

They might do another round of the most recent chemo while there. Once they test this week to see if the last round helped our not.

Thankful for you all who are holding the whole family up in prayer!

3/8/24 Leslie's PET scan results on Wed showed that the lymphoma has spread again. They said the current chemo is no longer working, so won't continue with that kind. They sent her home and have scheduled a different chemo to start next Wed. After she gets through about 2 rounds of that and has another PET scan, they want to do something called Car T-cell treatment. Appreciate the prayers moving forward.

3/6/24 LAST TREATMENT! Today will start one final, long, grueling week for my Aunt Leslie and Mom (her sister Donna). They have a PET scan today about 11 at Barnes, then they will do the lumbar puncture injecting chemo, then hook her port up with drip chemo and immunotherapy for approx. 100 hours. At the end of the week she'll get one more lumbar puncture injection and she'll get to ring the bell!!

Thank you for the continued prayers, God has greatly blessed us through all the hard.

Answered prayers:

She's gained almost 20 pounds.

The platelets levels they measure weekly had gotten down to 8, anything below that they then do a blood transfusion. They fully expected to have to do that, but every week her levels have risen! They were 9.8 last week!

Please pray for:

A side effect of the lumbar puncture is headaches, please pray for relief of those, along with all the icky side effects of the chemo (this is normal and expected, but still stinks).

Pray for this last week stay at Hope Lodge, for all the doctors and nurses at the hospital and that all the procedures go smoothly, and that they could be an encouragement to those around them.

For all the family as we are apart.

Pray with us that she gets through this week, comes home and is able to rest, recover and just gets stronger and healthier and well again!

Thank you!

QUICK UPDATE 1/6/24: Praise God together with us today! Huge answered prayers!! Results from Leslie's PET scan on Tuesday came in, and it is the best news! They found NO masses or lymphoma fluid in her body!! The last scan showed multiple tumors in her heart and lungs, and they are now completely gone! Thank you for the continued prayers! She had a spinal injection on Wednesday and now experiencing new unpleasant side-effects of that. Still has to get through this 3rd round of the 5-day chemo protocol, and then 3 more rounds to finish out the schedule. But we are praising the Lord for His mercy and the great news from the PET scan!

UPDATE 1/1/24: Two treatments down, four to go! Leslie and her sister Donna leave tomorrow morning (1/2/24) for round 3 of 100+ straight hours of chemo and immunotherapy. The first round hit her pretty hard with all the expected side-effects.

Praises:

-Leslie is able to breath better after just the first chemo treatment, and her cough is all but gone. This means she is able to lay flat again to sleep without breathing difficulties.

-They seem to be managing her side-effects better so she is able to eat more.

-She gets blood work done in Farmington once a week in between treatments in St. Louis, and so far her levels have been great every time so she has not needed the blood transfusions they expected she would need.

-They were able to stay in a place called Hope Lodge near the hospital during the treatments. They just have to go to the hospital to get new IV bags with medicine, but they can have their own room and space at the Lodge and that has been a blessing.

Prayer requests:

-That Leslie wouldn't loose any more weight, but would start gaining weight and strength.

-Travel mercies as they go back to St. Louis. They will be there a week then travel home.

-For the family as all are apart.

Thank you for the continued calls, texts, cards, gifts and prayers especially over the holidays! You may still give toward the medical expenses via personal checks sent right to Leslie or via the links here on this page. Your kindness has meant so much to us all. Happy New Year!

UPDATE 11/25/23: Unfortunately, the Medical center in AZ was not equipped to care for Leslie the way she had hoped, nor how she needed with her recent heart conditions. Ultimately, the options came down to a treatment plan not unlike what Barnes in St. Louis would do, so she opted to come home and be near family while going through that.

They got home about midnight on Sunday 19th after 12 days gone. We missed them so much. We got to catch up and then they went on up to Barnes Monday evening.

Tuesday 21st morning the oncologist and cardiologist at Barnes decided they wanted to have her in ICU so she can be more closely monitored with getting chemo. By Wed 22 she was ready to start 96 hours straight of chemo drip. Thursday 23 she was moved to a regular room, just in time cause all the kids were able to come visit and be in her room at once for Thanksgiving.

They plan for her to be ready to go home for a few weeks, possibly being discharged Tuesday 28. With plans for her to return for another four days straight of chemo on Dec. 13. If all goes according to plan, there are 6 treatments every 21 days.

We are grateful for your continued prayers for strength for Leslie and will continue to try to update all as we know more. You're gifts of kind words, financial and practical gifts have meant the world to the family during this time.

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Help cover Leslie Obenhaus' medical expenses on the next leg of her wellness journey!

Leslie’s immediate need is financial support to get the advanced treatments needed to fight her cancer and heal her body. The next step of this journey involves her traveling to Envita Medical Center in Arizona to receive these advanced treatments for a minimum of 7 weeks, while nourishing and fueling her body with the nutrients it needs to make a full recovery.

To understand the urgent need now, you need to know more of Leslie’s story and what has led the Obenhaus family to where they are today…

Leslie gave her whole heart to Paul as his wife in 1998 and through their nearly 14 year marriage they were blessed with 6 children. Through the ups and downs they were wholly devoted to each other and planned to live out their days homeschooling their children and doing life together. Sometimes life has other plans. Paul passed away in 2014 after a couple year battle with colon cancer at just 48, leaving Leslie widowed with 6 kiddos ages 3-14. Despite the grief all the family endured, God has been gracious and faithful, and always provided for this family of seven. Leslie has continued homeschooling their kids, now 12-23 years old, with 3 graduated, she can see the fruits of a life devoted to God’s Word and Truth.

In June 2022, Leslie noticed lumps on her head, side of her face, and inner ear, causing hearing loss; she quickly got it checked out. She was diagnosed with Large Diffuse B-cell Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma and immediately began treating it with drastic diet change and natural treatments. She quickly dropped excess weight, she had more energy, less headaches and better wellness than she had experienced in years. The lumps on her head and side of her face disappeared within about 3 months and her hearing was completely restored.

Fast forward to October 2023; Leslie started having concerning symptoms that pointed to heart issues. Chest pain, arrhythmia, pressure and a cough, along with general weakness and unexplained fatigue. With two separate stays of nearly a week each, it was discovered that the lymphoma was causing fluid to rapidly build up around her heart. This required multiple emergency procedures and surgeries to put in a semi permanent drain port and a pacemaker to insure her heart keeps doing what it should! Without these lifesaving procedures she may not be with us today.

You can see now how imperative it is that she gets the additional advanced treatments she needs to kill the cancer and begin healing and recovering. The fluid continues to be produced around her heart as a complication of the cancer. She will be away from her kids for a minimum of 7 weeks but will be able to fully focus on healing and coming home strong. Leslie's sister, Donna Bond is traveling with her and will be taking her to each treatment while they are in Arizona.

Just as they always have before, they trust that God can and will provide their every need. He is not surprised by this need. This fundraiser page is just an opportunity for you to be a part of that provision.

Thank you for prayerfully considering giving toward the goal. The Obenhaus family also appreciates your continued prayers during this time and all the other ways you may have been an encouraging support over the years.