A year and a half ago my brother Curt was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Throughout this time, he has been dealt one set back after another but remains extraordinarily optimistic & positive about the situation. A true fighter.

Curt started his chemotherapy treatment in August of 2020. Following the initial rounds of chemo, two of the cancer spots had gone away but one spot was still aggressively growing. This led Curt to an experimental trial at M Health where he received a donor T-cell infusion in February 2021, and second one in April because the tumor had continued to grow. Following the second round of infusions, Curt's PET scan came back clear - technically he was in remission but the treatment was not a cure, it only gave him about 10 months of no tumor growth. The doctors informed him he would need a stem cell transplant to fully cure the cancer & ensure the tumor did not grow back.

After several ups and downs along the journey for a stem cell transplant donor, and an exhaustive search through Be The Match, just a few weeks ago Curt received news that he had found a match in Germany. Everyone was ecstatic! Curt started the pre-transplant prep. However, during the course of Curt's T-cell infusion treatments, his entire immune system was completely wiped out. And unfortunately, on December 6th, Curt tested positive for Covid. This was certainly not the news that anyone wanted to hear. On Thursday, December 9th he was taken to the emergency room and admitted because he had difficulty breathing. He has been in the hospital since then, but today- December 19th, we received great news that he is doing so well he should be home for Christmas! Merry Christmas, indeed!

Unfortunately, this means that the stem cell transplant process starts all over. Once Curt is fully recovered from Covid, he will need to find an new donor through Be The Match. Once a new donor is identified, the pre-transplant process will begin again and following the transplant Curt will be unable to work for at least four months. Curt has been warned that he will have "buyer's remorse" following the transplant because the after-effects are so miserable, but this treatment plan in the only method available to stop the cancer from returning.

Curt and his family need your help. While Curt recovers from Covid, receives the transplant, and then recovers from the transplant, he will be unable to work. This is several months without income. Curt and his family have been through so much already with the ups & downs of the treatment process, and the medical bills are certainly piling up. We are setting up this GoFundMe page to help Curt, Kari, Jenna and Mandy through this trying time. Please make a donation, of any size, to help this deserving family ease some of the financial burden that they are facing.

If you want to follow along with Curt's medical journey, here is his CaringBridge site: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/curtcarlson.