Luke & Jenny's Time of Need

As you may or may not know, my brother-in-law Brian Lukasiewicz (better known as Luke) was diagnosed with Sezary syndrome, a rare and aggressive type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The cancerous T-cells appear in the skin, lymph nodes and blood. In much less technical terms, it’s a cruel disease that causes excruciating pain and discomfort.

The early treatments seemed to keep the disease at bay, but in recent weeks things have taken a turn for the worse. Luke has been hospitalized for the last week, awaiting a bed in the burn unit at U of M. The burn unit is necessary at this point due to the fact that the disease has now ravaged over 80% of Luke’s body.

Luke and my sister Jenny have been together for 16 years. He started dating my sister in the years following the loss of our parents. It was a time in our lives that our entire family needed an addition like Luke. I know for my sister, he was the steadying force that she needed at exactly the right time.

Although they are not technically married, Luke has played the role of a devoted husband brilliantly, he’s incredibly proud of his pseudo sons, and he’s fully embraced the role of Grandpa to ten wonderful grandkids ranging from ages one to ten years old.

With Luke’s current condition, getting out of the hospital is not likely to happen soon. When Luke does start responding to treatment and recovering well enough to make that highly desired trip home, unfortunately neither Luke nor Jenny will be able to return to work anytime in the near future.

We are hopeful that this fund will help them with their basic needs and get them through the tumultuous time ahead.

Luke has given a lot to our family and to friends alike. I think anyone that knows him would agree that he would give the shirt off his back. Luke is the last person that would ask for help. Hell, he wouldn’t even tell anyone he was sick, and he always acted as if he was okay. We now have an opportunity to help whether he likes it or not.

Please don’t feel obligated to give a lot; anything will help. And if you can’t even give a little…that’s more than okay; please just simply share their story.

Thank you.