Support Pete Lesch's Battle with MDS

The past week has been a life changing tornado for the Lesch family. On Monday Pete was not feeling well and went to the doctor. Upon bloodwork, he was sent to the ER and admitted to Methodist Hospital. After a painful week of tests (blood transfusions, bone marrow biopsy), Pete has been diagnosed with a form of Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS).

MDS are an often unrecognized, under-diagnosed, rare group of bone marrow failure disorders, where the body no longer makes enough healthy, normal blood cells in the bone marrow. The disease is also recognized as a form of blood cancer.

Pete’s immune system is compromised due to the MDS, and as a result he is currently fighting an infection. Once this infection has cleared, he will begin chemotherapy and ultimately need a stem cell bone marrow transplant. He will remain hospitalized for the foreseeable future.

The silver lining is that they do not need to go through this alone. Many have asked how you can help. Please see the “ways to help” link on the left side of this page and if you are able to - please help! Every small or large act of kindness will mean so much, especially as Pete is not able to work at this time.

Pete is a healthy man, works out, eats right, doesn’t drink etc. Needless to say, this has been a shocking and overwhelming week for the Lesch family. With Jen’s blessing, we have set up this page to offer updates and ways to help during this scary and uncertain time. Our goal is to allow Jen to focus on Pete and their sweet children.

Angela Brown & Kari Shideman (on behalf of Jen and Pete Lesch)