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Hi there! Some of you may already know me well and my story, but some of you may just be kindhearted strangers looking to help out a fellow human being. My name's Troy Rutkofske, and for over a year now, my life has been revolving around Acute Myeloid Leukemia with two mutations that are making this an ongoing battle with continued relapses. Friends and strangers from across the country have been giving me an incredible amount of support with thoughts, prayers, and heaping amounts of positivity, which has been an incredible boost, but with a bone marrow transplant being pushed back by yet another relapse last week, even with good medical insurance, my medical bills keep piling up and will continue to grow. Friends have asked if there are ways they can help out, and I figured this may be the way.
As if being in a wheelchair wasn't enough (I broke my neck diving into a shallow lake when I was 16,) life decided I needed another life altering experience to test my mettle. After a week of feeling a bit nauseous and not being able to sleep, on August 1, 2018, I woke up totally confused and terribly weak. My girlfriend immediately knew something was wrong. Basic questions were met with a confused look. After saying I was fine several times, I realized I needed to go to the emergency room. Just getting dressed and outside to an ambulance was a surreal experience. I knew my name, my birth date, and not much else. After hours of testing and discomfort, the emergency room doctor came in, and I'll never forget her face, "You have a blood cancer."
While I was going through my first round of leukapheresis to get my white blood count to a level where the chemotherapy wouldn't kill me, my oncologist pulled my girlfriend aside and told her, "If you have any phone calls to make, make them. He might not make it." My leukemia with its initial mutation hit hard and fast. A little over a month before this, I had my annual physical, and other than needing to lower my cholesterol, everything else was perfectly normal. In the hospital, I talked to many other leukemia patients who went through months of testing, knowing something was wrong, but no doctor able to pinpoint the issue for quite some time. My AML with its mutation is a quick killer, but I'm not so easy.
After six months in the hospital and five rounds of chemotherapy, three bone marrow biopsies, two spinal taps, and countless complications, I left the hospital in early February 2019 in remission. Breaking my neck had given me an incredible perspective on life, but my cancer journey, talking with, seeing, and hearing others in the hospital who didn't make it, gave me an even stronger appreciation for life. I set out with the goal of getting myself into the best physical, mental, and spiritual shape of my adult life. Unfortunately, a week after my 45th birthday in June, after a blood draw, I was back in the hospital. My leukemia relapsed, this time with an additional mutation, because why not?!
The new game plan was (and is) more chemotherapy to be followed by a bone marrow transplant at Johns Hopkins once I was back in remission. I had one incredibly intense round of induction chemotherapy (uuuugh....) that knocked my leukemia down but not out. That was followed by another round of much milder, in-patient chemotherapy, and then another out patient with a week of injections and continued daily chemotherapy pills throughout. October 16, I got the test results from another bone marrow biopsy, and I was leukemia free again! Chemotherapy stopped, and on October 28, Johns Hopkins confirmed that my nephew is a donor match! Dates were set, and my transplant was to happen on December 11. All this great new had everyday feeling better than waking up on Christmas morning.
Unfortunately, last week, November 7, my weekly blood draw was followed up by a call from my oncologist. As soon as I heard his voice instead of his nurse's, I knew it as going to bad news. My leukemia is back. All of my appointments leading to my bone marrow transplant with Johns Hopkins were cancelled one after another the next day, and daily chemotherapy pills began again. We're hoping they'll do the trick, but if my November 19 blood draw doesn't show improvement, I may be back in the hospital for some more intense chemotherapy. Fingers are crossed, and I'm staying positive.
I WILL beat this! Patience and persistence. Things may be delayed, but I have my nephew as my bone marrow donor. The battle continues, but I WILL win. Your support will help take one more stress off my plate as I go through this, and for that, THANK YOU!
As if being in a wheelchair wasn't enough (I broke my neck diving into a shallow lake when I was 16,) life decided I needed another life altering experience to test my mettle. After a week of feeling a bit nauseous and not being able to sleep, on August 1, 2018, I woke up totally confused and terribly weak. My girlfriend immediately knew something was wrong. Basic questions were met with a confused look. After saying I was fine several times, I realized I needed to go to the emergency room. Just getting dressed and outside to an ambulance was a surreal experience. I knew my name, my birth date, and not much else. After hours of testing and discomfort, the emergency room doctor came in, and I'll never forget her face, "You have a blood cancer."
While I was going through my first round of leukapheresis to get my white blood count to a level where the chemotherapy wouldn't kill me, my oncologist pulled my girlfriend aside and told her, "If you have any phone calls to make, make them. He might not make it." My leukemia with its initial mutation hit hard and fast. A little over a month before this, I had my annual physical, and other than needing to lower my cholesterol, everything else was perfectly normal. In the hospital, I talked to many other leukemia patients who went through months of testing, knowing something was wrong, but no doctor able to pinpoint the issue for quite some time. My AML with its mutation is a quick killer, but I'm not so easy.
After six months in the hospital and five rounds of chemotherapy, three bone marrow biopsies, two spinal taps, and countless complications, I left the hospital in early February 2019 in remission. Breaking my neck had given me an incredible perspective on life, but my cancer journey, talking with, seeing, and hearing others in the hospital who didn't make it, gave me an even stronger appreciation for life. I set out with the goal of getting myself into the best physical, mental, and spiritual shape of my adult life. Unfortunately, a week after my 45th birthday in June, after a blood draw, I was back in the hospital. My leukemia relapsed, this time with an additional mutation, because why not?!
The new game plan was (and is) more chemotherapy to be followed by a bone marrow transplant at Johns Hopkins once I was back in remission. I had one incredibly intense round of induction chemotherapy (uuuugh....) that knocked my leukemia down but not out. That was followed by another round of much milder, in-patient chemotherapy, and then another out patient with a week of injections and continued daily chemotherapy pills throughout. October 16, I got the test results from another bone marrow biopsy, and I was leukemia free again! Chemotherapy stopped, and on October 28, Johns Hopkins confirmed that my nephew is a donor match! Dates were set, and my transplant was to happen on December 11. All this great new had everyday feeling better than waking up on Christmas morning.
Unfortunately, last week, November 7, my weekly blood draw was followed up by a call from my oncologist. As soon as I heard his voice instead of his nurse's, I knew it as going to bad news. My leukemia is back. All of my appointments leading to my bone marrow transplant with Johns Hopkins were cancelled one after another the next day, and daily chemotherapy pills began again. We're hoping they'll do the trick, but if my November 19 blood draw doesn't show improvement, I may be back in the hospital for some more intense chemotherapy. Fingers are crossed, and I'm staying positive.
I WILL beat this! Patience and persistence. Things may be delayed, but I have my nephew as my bone marrow donor. The battle continues, but I WILL win. Your support will help take one more stress off my plate as I go through this, and for that, THANK YOU!