Brandon's Battle Against T Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia

WHAT HAPPENED

On November 21st, 2023, my 36-year-old son Brandon was lifting weights before the busiest day of the year at work, when he noticed a lump in his neck. After weeks of appointments and tests, he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, a rare cancer in adults. He was immediately admitted to the hospital and started inpatient chemotherapy at the Vince Lombardi Cancer Center (VLCC) at St. Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Since December of last year, Brandon has undergone a total of four rounds of chemotherapy—each round more difficult than the last, but he never complained about any of it. Each round consisted of five days of inpatient chemo followed by 17 days of outpatient labs, fluids, transfusions, or platelets treatments as needed, at the VLCC. After three rounds of chemo were complete, his PET scan showed his cancer was responding well to the treatment.However, the battle would continue as he would require a stem cell transplant to ensure the cancer would not return.

SETBACKS/COMPLICATIONS :

On January 26, 2024, after cycle 3, he and his wife Sam were getting ready to go to a doctor’s appointment when out of nowhere, Brandon passed out in the garage due to his blood pressure dropping to an abnormally low rate. Sam called 911, the ambulance came to their home, and he was back in the hospital for seven days while his medical team attempted to regulate his blood pressure with medication. At this point, we learned that the intense chemo treatments had caused a rare side effect called Autonomic Neuropathy. AN is damage to the nerves that control automatic bodily functions like regulating blood pressure, body temperature, bladder function, and digestion. AN may or may not go away. Only time will tell.

After cycle 4, less than ten days after returning home from the hospital, Brandon woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at St. Luke’s due to an E.coli blood infection that lead to septic shock. His organs were taking a big hit and they prepped his family that he may be on a ventilator. Fortunately his body rebounded and he was able to avoid the ventilator. His heart, along with the rest of his body, was suffering and he didn't eat for several days. He fought with everything he had and thankfully after four days in the ICU, he was stable enough to be moved to another floor. He spent the next 17 days in the hospital trying to regain his strength to perform daily functions and work on his ability to take in food. At this point Brandon had lost 45lbs since December.

CURRENTLY:

If you know Brandon, you know a few things are true: He loves to eat, and always has a project to working on. He is a mover. He is an eater. Unfortunately, cancer has changed these things for the time being. Brandon struggles with eating since his stomach is often very upset due to digestion issues. He has lost significant strength and can only walk for 10-13 min at a time. Although this is significant improvement from the ICU days, daily tasks are still a struggle. As much as this journey has taken from Brandon, you wouldn't know it from talking to him. His attitude and outlook has remained positive.

NEXT FEW MONTHS:

For the past several weeks, Brandon has been doing what he can to gain his physical strength back and has shown improvement which will help him to prepare for his long-awaited Autologous Stem Cell transplant. On April 11, 2024, Brandon turned 37 years old and on April 23rd, 2024 he is scheduled to be admitted back to the hospital to begin the month-long process of the transplant which includes another 7 days of the most aggressive chemo. After the inpatient transplant is complete, the following 8-12 weeks will be spent at home, in isolation, as his immune system regenerates and recuperates. What we all thought was going to be a few months of chemo to rid his body of cancer, turned into a battle for his young and vibrant life. There have been several setbacks to get to this point of his treatment and we are so very grateful that he can begin the stem cell transplant and we pray that he has the strength to fight through it as he has been doing throughout his treatment.

Unfortunately Brandon will not be able to return to work for some time and will be focusing on his recovery by building back his strength focusing on nutrition. This does not come without financial hardship as hospital bills are steadily coming in, two annual insurance deductibles, reduction of wages, and soon his short-term disability will end. Donations that are raised on behalf of Brandon’s recovery will be used to cover out of pocket expenses, such as tests, scans, medical treatments, physical therapy, medications, hospital admissions, ambulances, and general living costs. We are hopeful that this will also allow Brandon to take the time he needs to heal without some of the financial stress until he is able to return to work.

Although he is limited to seeing family and friends due to his compromised immune system, Brandon truly enjoys connecting through social media, phone calls, and texts. The support from family and friends has absolutely helped to raise his spirits and keeps him in a place of positivity and hope. He will be more isolated than ever after the transplant, but he continues to look forward to the day where he is able to return to socializing with friends and family, working with his WF family, doing yard work, working with his tools, and returning to his beloved fitness routine. That day will be here before we know it and we cannot wait to have him back!

On behalf of Brandon and Sam, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everything you’ve done and for joining his support team. Please keep him and family in your prayers.

I look forward to posting updates throughout his recovery.