Leukemia support for Milan Weedman & Family

"Two weeks ago he was repelling down a cliff." That's what I keep telling myself as Milan and I sit in utter shock at the state of his health.

Monday morning on September 5th, Milan woke up totally exhausted and aching. He had been experiencing bad headaches all weekend, but we brushed it off as traveling with six kids. We had just gotten back from a trip up to Payson, Utah. Milan also had lumps on the back of his neck that I assumed were muscle knots from driving, but they were very tender to touch.

Over the next week and a trip to an Urgent Care that told us to go home and “wait it out”, Milan’s symptoms continued to get worse and we finally were able to get Milan to the emergency room late in the evening on Monday, September 12th. Early Tuesday morning we got the results from a blood draw. Milan’s white blood cell count was 671,200 white blood cells per cubic milliliter. An average healthy person has about 10,000 white blood cells per cubic milliliter. It was an automatic diagnosis of leukemia.

He had a bond marrow biopsy, and then we waited that entire week for a diagnosis and answers. On Friday we were given the information that his blood work was presenting as Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, but his bone marrow was presenting as T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The doctor had never seen the two differing presentations and he wasn't comfortable treating such a complex case. He put in a request to get Milan transferred to the University of Utah at The Huntsman Institute.

After fighting through the weekend with the insurance ourselves to try to get Milan transferred, he was finally put on a plane late Monday night and we arrived at The Huntsman Institute. From that moment on, it was non stop. He was taken for a full body CT, met his new team of doctors, had a PICC line placed, had an eye exam, had a second bone marrow biopsy, a second eye exam, was moved to the ICU, had a central line placed, and had leukapheresis done to clean out some of the white blood cells in his blood.

We got some answers on Wednesday. Heres' what I wrote down after the doctor left: Chromosonally, Milan was diagnosed with CML or chronic myeloid leukemia and that is super common and easily treated. However, his T-cells are in blast phase. Blast phase CML is a different diagnosis. In blast phase CML, about 70% of people with blast phase cml have myeloid blast phase CML. Milan doesn't have that. His is in his lymphatic system. From there it's split into something wrong with his B- cells or T-cells. His is CML in T- lymphoblastic blast crisis. The doctor spent the day researching and has only found 20 other similar cases world wide.

     Thursday, September 22nd, things changed rapidly. Milan has a blood clot in his arm from an IV. There's a chance that can get loose and travel to his lungs causing a pulmonary embolism. His white blood cell count is not coming down, even after all of the procedures and medications. They don't know why it isn't coming down and it is very concerning. His eyesight and hearing have been deteriorating. His kidneys and liver have been showing signs of damage. They have started him on dialysis. When I spoke with the doctor, she said they hope to get him through the next few days. When I asked about a further prognosis, she repeated that he needs to get through the next few days. 

Thank you for the support, prayers, and fasting that we have already seen miracles from. We ask that you continue to keep Milan and our family in your prayers. We need him to be with his family as they grow and we pray that he will be here to hold his 7th child in his arms this March. He is a wonderful husband and father and we love him very much.

About the fundraiser: This fundraiser has been set up by Laura Kavanaugh, Milan's sister. I live in Saint George Utah. Milan and his family live in Las Vegas but he will likely be kept at the hospital in Salt Lake City for the foreseeable future. The funds from this fundraiser will be used to help support costs associated with his wife's and kids' temporary and indefinite relocation so they can be with him during this time. Funds will be directly deposited into a trust bank account that has been set up solely for the purpose of Milan and his wife and kids.