This GoFundMe page has been set up by friends of the family in the hopes of relieving the financial pressures associated with both Jason and Michelle's fight against leukemia.

Michelle’s Battle

In early March 2023 Michelle was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

After several weeks of unexplained whole-body pain Michelle sought help from her doctor and had some blood work done. Her numbers were not great. On March 3, her pain hit a level that took her to the ER where the attending immediately transferred her to the Orlando Health Cancer Institute. This news has turned their world upside down. She is currently undergoing induction chemotherapy that will keep her in the hospital for about 4 weeks (if all goes to plan).

Jason’s Battle

Never one to ask for help, Jason has been completely focused on Michelle while he’s been quietly battling his own cancer diagnosis. In Spring 2022 Jason was diagnosed with harry cell leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. The disease is not curable. He’s undergone chemotherapy and antibody treatments over the past year and doctors continue to monitor his condition.

Michelle and Jason are always the first to help out others in need. Their family and friends are hoping this fundraiser will go a short way to giving them the support they need during this difficult time.

The family, now with only one income, will continue to support treatments for both parents and care for Michelle’s son Davis.

The money raised will go directly to the family to help with a wig for Michelle (her beautiful red hair is a big part of her brand), out-of-pocket medical expenses, gas for their endless commutes to the hospital, additional childcare for Davis and help with day-to-day activities and tasks.

We hope that financial support will allow Jason and Michelle to focus all their energy and time on their cancer battles and ensure Davis is supported throughout this journey as well.

-----

UPDATES

March 28

It happened!! They let me take her home today. They hinted on Friday that based on how her numbers were coming up they felt like she could come home Monday or Tuesday. I spent all weekend trying to get my hopes up too high, but then this morning they came in and said….this is it. No need to keep you any longer after your final two procedures. So we spent a nervous morning hoping they could get her procedures done (bone marrow biopsy & a lumbar puncture to put chemo in her spinal fluid). After nervous waiting I finally called the nurse to see if there was any movement on getting her procedures scheduled. He confirmed they were going to happen at 2PM. Nothing ever happens on time there, but for some reason today everything was on time. They got her did both procedures and when we finally got her wheeled into the room the nurse came in and said…discharge papers are signed you can start packing!!! I got my girl back. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I ordered her a celebration dinner from Outback. She ate her first real meal in a month and we sat and watched (still watching the Bachelor finale). We should be able to have her home for at least 3 weeks before she has to go back for the next round of treatments. I’m so excited for these next few weeks just to have her light back in our home. Thank you everyone for your love and support. We love you all! ❤️

March 26

Hi there everyone, I know I’ve been the one keeping you up to date on Michelle’s cancer journey. She finally had enough strength today to share in her words her gratitude to all of you and the love and support you’ve shown our family. Can’t wait to have our girl back home. We love you all!! ❤️❤️‍



March 24

Hello team Michelle, I am writing this on a quick break from dancing. The oncology team just came in Michelle’s room and announced Michelle’s blood counts are coming back much faster than expected. They want her to do a bone marrow biopsy on Monday and she has to do a lumbar puncture where they inject chemo into the base of her spine. If she does well with that and her numbers continue on the same trajectory then we could see her coming home as early as Monday afternoon or Tuesday!!!! Now I must go back to my celebration dance. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. She needs for her blood to keep climbing over the weekend. This news really came at the best time. Over the last 48 hours the hair has really started the falling out process and that’s a tough experience to go through. This was the exact ray of light she needed.

March 23

Hello everyone, I wanted to give you an update on Michelle. We are playing a waiting game with her blood counts now. The side effects of chemo have really taken a toll on her body. She spiked a fever in the last 36 hours. So they are concerned about infections. She is getting pumped full of antibiotics. Which is no wrecking her stomach (poor girl). They are taking her to get a CT scan today to make sure there is not an infection in her lower GI. What we really need is to see her white blood cell counts to come up. So the mucicitus can start going away which would allow her to swallow, which then would allow her to start actually eating. We appreciate the constant messages and support.

March 20

Here is the update on Michelle from the weekend. She was able to complete her chemo infusions for this induction round. Now she can start a recovery phase from this round. This sadly means she's at the worst point for chemo side effects. She's in horrible pain right now from chemo induced mucicitus. She can hardly swallow which makes any eating or drinking really difficult and painful. This does not go away until her white blood cells start coming back. Best guess is that will take 7-10 days. When her bloods counts come back to a more normal range she will be able to go home. We are hopeful that this will only take two weeks. After that she will have 8 more rounds requiring a hospital stay, but the length of time should be shorter (around 5 days each time). Please continue to keep Michelle in your thoughts and prayer as she is in such a painful period of this treatment. We love you all. Thank you for all of the support and love you have shown our family.

March 17

Hi everyone, just a quick update on Michelle. This is a milestone day. The doctors have just started her pre-meds for her final infusion of chemo. She has a chemo treatment, an anti-body treatment, and a pill she has to get through today. Once that’s done we will be over the hump of the induction chemo and then she can start the recovery process for this round. I will share later what the schedule is for the additional rounds but, today we just need her to get over this final obstacle. So I am asking for all of the prayers and positive thoughts to be sent her way today. Thank you for all of your love and support.

March 16

Here’s today’s update on Michelle’s journey. Two days ago they started her on a TKI inhibitor which impacted her heart rhythm. So it was stopped because of her heart. With her being PH+ she absolutely needs the TKI. So they did some shifting on her meds and took away an anti-nausea med. This morning when she woke up she had a horrible migraine and was severely nauseous. She couldn’t keep anything down. So they adjusted the meds to tackle that. We got the all clear on her heart. And the best news was the final molecular test we were waiting for came back and it was a favorable response! This is the first bit of good news we’ve had in two weeks!! It tells us that she should have a more favorable response to the chemo. She woke up this afternoon feeling a little better. She ate popcorn, drank an ensure, and ate a popsicle all while watching episodes of the Bachelor. They just gave her the TKI inhibitor about 30 minutes ago. We are all watching and waiting for a favorable response from her body (as in no negative reactions). She’s sleeping now. We did get some wonderful gifts in the mail today and she loved them all. Tomorrow is a big day. She starts her final part of this specific induction chemo round. They tried to give her this treatment 11 days ago and it did not go well. So needless to say she’s a little anxious. The doctors are optimistic that this will be a better experience. The leukemia cells (lymphoblasts)in her body have been significantly reduced. So please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as we enter this next phase. On a positive note she got word that little Davis has been selected to be the starting wide receiver for his football team. I’m not sure she could have gotten any other news that would have brought her more joy. Both Davis and Michelle were through the roof excited. All in all (this morning not included) this was a moving in a positive direction day. Thank you all and we love you!!

March 15

Hi everyone, I know I failed to give an update on Michelle yesterday. That was primarily because we had some major challenges with negative reactions to medications. She also found out that she is Philadelphia mutation positive which requires different meds which did not go as well as we hoped. So she had a rough go of it all afternoon and evening. The issues were also compounded by construction the hospital is doing outside this building. There has been a continuous stream of noise from the site which includes metallic banging throughout the night (overnight). So Michelle has struggled with peaceful sleep. It’s hard for me to sleep here and I can sleep through anything, though I really try to stay monitoring her needs in the evening so deep sleep is not something I’m after. I escalated this to the administration and we were able to move her to a new room. She is now in room 875 for those of you who are send gifts and cards (she loves them). So 11PM last night I did a bunch of packing and moved all of her stuff I even transplanted her photo wall so she had her family, friends, and kitties to look at. She cannot respond all of the time to messages (nor can I) but she reads every single one and watches the video notes sent to her. We go through a lot of tissues each day as we read those notes and watch those videos. They are good tears of deep love and appreciation. Thank you, we love you all. ❤️❤️‍

March 13

Today has been a really rough day for Michelle. She passed out in the bathroom, I had to carry her back to bed. Her blood pressure dropped critically low. We ended up having some very scary moments. She’s resting now but super weak. We are going to put on hold having any visitors at the moment. What we need right now are thoughts and prayers. She’s a fighter but the chemo landed a solid punch today. She loves you all. She told me last night she just wants her life back. It broke my heart because I would do anything in my power to give that to her, but right now we are just powerless to do anything but focus on the fight.

March 10

March 9

Hi everyone, I wanted to start off by saying Michelle has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support. All of the messages have really lifted her spirits. Yesterday was a good day for her. The chemo has already impacted her blood counts which we are thrilled about. Sadly things are going to get a lot worse before they get better so we rejoice at any window of good time. So since she was having a good day yesterday we got to let Davis see mommy for the first time since being in the hospital. It meant the world to her. Today has not been as good. She’s understandably exhausted and she had to have her first transfusion late last night which really messed with her rest. I am sitting here quietly by her bed while she tries to sleep. Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. We love you all. One day I am going to figure out how to send thank you notes to each and every one of you, but for the time being please know you have our undying gratitude. I sat with her earlier today as we read through all of the people who have given gifts and messages. I watched as tears streamed down her face as she realized just how much love and support is out there for her. Thank you ❤️❤️‍

March 8

My amazing wife found out 5 days ago that she has Acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Chemo started yesterday. She knows she is losing her hair in a few days so she decided to donate her hair to a program that creates wigs for children dealing with cancer. She’s so beautiful, so strong, and my inspiration.