Hello Friends!
I’m Jamie Frey & I need your help. As some of you may know, I recently got married! In the month before our courthouse nuptials, we were in a pretty severe car accident that left both my then fiancée & I pretty banged up, but as life goes, we soldiered on.
Our small December wedding was perfect & so very us; we left on our road-trip “minimoon” in high spirits despite both of us still feeling the after effects of the accident. One night in Vancouver, WA, while we were chatting in the hotel lobby with the night crew, I suddenly started to feel much worse & blacked out. When I came to, I was on the floor with my wife holding my head; I had managed to stumble away from the counter & passed out, falling onto my tailbone before my head fell back against the floor. I was in no shape to drive or sit in a car for 8+ hours, so we took a few extra days to recover in the hotel before continuing on home.
Once we got home, it became clear something serious was wrong. Anytime I stood up, my heart rate would thump dangerously into my ears & I would become vividly nauseated & dizzy. We estimated my resting heart rate was 130BPM & I was getting more pale & jaundiced the further we got into January. After two weeks of both my wife & I feeling terrible, for she has multiple chronic illnesses of her own to contend with, we managed to get both of us into Urgent Care, where we were immediately sent as high priority into the ER. The ER doctors took one look at my jaundiced skin & extremely high heart rate & tested my blood, discovering my hemoglobin level was 3; the doctor who discovered this told me in his 40+ years of practicing, he had only seen 4 other patients with hemoglobin levels so low. The average male in my age range & weight should be at least at 13. I was immediately given a blood transfusion & admitted into the hospital.
Then began the battery of tests to find out why my levels were so low & what was clearly attempting to kill me. It only took about a week before they found the cause & on 2/1/20, my life changed forever; I was diagnosed with A.L.L., or Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, more commonly known as a type of blood cancer usually found in children under 10.
I was floored. I had cancer? Between my wife and I, I thought I was the healthier of the two of us & often acted as her caregiver & support system during flare-ups from her chronic illnesses. This quickly changed as she became MY caregiver & supporter, helping me handle the news & taking over a lot of the logistical side of things so I wouldn’t have to stress my body unnecessarily. The doctors said we caught it early, which was promising, & as it is a fast moving cancer, they worked quickly to transfer me to a better facility to handle my treatment process, which was to begin immediately. I was placed into a clinical trial for my condition and started my first round of chemotherapy on 2/6/20 with a lumbar puncture, intrathecal chemo, & two IV drip chemos. But at least I didn’t have any chemo for my birthday on 2/8/20, so hooray for small victories; the wonderful nursing staff even brought me a cupcake!
So this is where you come in! Prior to all of this, I was the only one working to support us financially as my wife cannot work due to her own health issues; now, I will be unable to work as well. My treatment in total will be continuously ongoing for several years including chemotherapy induction/remission maintenance & we will need help from anyone who has the ability to help as we need a way to pay for our daily living expenses as well as any of my treatment not covered by insurance, the total amount of which is still unclear at the present time. Any and all help is so appreciated as it will be put to medical bills, living expenses, regular bills, & small creature comforts like food or things to keep the room I’ll be living in as sterile as possible. I will have been in the hospital for almost 2 months at the end of this first course of treatment & will continue on an outpatient basis (or shorter hospital stays) until I am through my chemotherapy.
I completely understand if money is not an option and always welcome well-wishes, prayers, & good conversation through my Facebook or Instagram. I will also be starting a blog where I will be putting my thoughts, photos, sketches, & Day-in-the-Life updates of a cancer patient as I am going to try to give as much information as I can about the medical processes I’m going through.
Now is when my fight begins. I was not prepared for this, but I refuse to succumb to it! My wife & I love you all and thank you for your support through this difficult time. We will not stop fighting until we eradicate all of the cancer cells in my body so I am no longer Jamie Frey, the Cancer Guy!
Much love & thanks,
Jamie Nicolas Frey