Support Ben and Family's Bone Marrow Transplant Journey

Last year, our middle son, Ben, was diagnosed with AML, an aggressive type of leukemia. He went into remission after his first cycle of chemo and rang the bell after his 5th round of chemo back at the end of January.

Unfortunately, Ben's AML cancer relapsed in May after only 3 months out of the hospital and off therapy.

It's been a shock and a complete upheaval of life. Relapse means Ben will be getting a bone marrow transplant after more rounds of chemo, which we had prayed so hard last year that he would avoid. It's going to be a long and tough road ahead as we navigate this next year and beyond. By the time his 1 year diagnosis anniversary rolls around, we will have spent 9 of the last 12 months in the hospital at Cincinnati Children's.

Ben will no longer be able to attend kindergarten this fall and will need care and supervision at home for the next year while his soon-to-be new immune system from his transplant is getting used to being in his body and re-learning how to fight off germs, etc. While Casey and I will be taking time off during the acute transplant phase, we will need help for the months beyond.

Bone marrow transplant also means intense chemotherapy that can damage his fertility in the future and requires surgery to preserve tissue for his future use and cryo banking until he turns 18.

We also need general help with daily life tasks and are seeking a house manager to keep us afloat. Our families have been wonderful and amazing but everyone is out of state so we have no local relatives.

We are hoping to raise funds to cover the costs to pay a house manager, pay the cryo banking fees, and to pay for additional help in the home to care for Ben (e.g. nanny, in-home teacher, or other care provider) while he is out of school. We also need funds to cover more frequent sitters when we have no family visiting and need help with Charlotte and Timmy.

Our entire family, including Ben's siblings, older sister Charlotte and younger brother Timmy, have had our lives turned upside down with Ben's diagnosis but have been doing our best to accept help from friends and rest assured in our faith that God provides.

From the bottom of our hearts, we can’t thank you for your love, prayers, and support!