Tannen Tough

There are some things I know for sure - 1. A parent should never have to face a diagnosis of cancer for their child. 2. A parent should definitely never have to face the diagnosis twice.

There are a lot of things that Leigh-Anna and Ian should have never had to experience, but have, with grace and an unnatural strength that exists at the core of who they are as people and as parents.

Now a year in, and through Tannen’s cancer, remission, and relapse, they have shown nothing but strength - in their family, in their faith, and in their community - but understandably, it’s starting to get heavy.

Tannen now faces a full bone marrow transplant, and with it came a new chemo (which exuded through his skin and required a need for baths and clothing changes every 6 hours), multiple broviacs, and testicular preservation. The preservation is to make sure that once Tannen completes his treatments and grows up, he will be able to have children. Tannen will have to be monitored in hospital for 100 days after treatment, and then will have to reside within 30 miles of the hospital for 2 months after that. Because they do not live within that distance, Ian and Leigh-Anna are facing tough decisions to ensure their family can stay together as a unit through this process as much as possible.

To add on to that, Ian just started a new job to better position his family and although it is a great opportunity, his paycheck is not as secure and they are out of insurance for the next 90 days.

Ian and Leigh-Anna will never ask for anything except prayers and positive thoughts from their community, but we would love if we could provide them with some hope and support to help them feel more secure.

Leigh and Ian are kind, resilient, and selfless, and we would love to help them and their family get through this final stage of Tannen’s health journey. Please donate if you can. #TannenTough