Cam's Continued Fight Against Cancer! #CamsFight

My son Camdon Cherry is a 24-year-old graduate of Oklahoma State University in the field of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics. His path has been a tough one up to this point with more hurdles ahead of him. Camdon was diagnosed with Leukemia in December 2020 when he was home from college during Thanksgiving break. At this time he was looking forward to completing the 14 hours he had left in the spring semester to graduate in May 2021. Instead, he found himself in the hospital receiving Chemotherapy treatments while also contracting COVID. After being isolated by himself at the hospital for 10 days he was finally cleared to return and proceed with his therapy.

He continued his regimen of chemotherapy at Oklahoma Cancer Specialists and Research Institute (OCSRI) in Tulsa, OK over the next year where he was in remission. With this news, he enrolled back into school to complete his final semester to graduate a year later than he had planned. His doctor had recommended that he do a follow-up visit with OU Medical in Oklahoma City and entertain the idea of having a stem cell transplant that has been used to help cure his leukemia. He was tested again and it was discovered that he still had a very small amount of cancer cells still present in his bone marrow, and this lead to his decision to proceed with having a stem cell transplant.

Despite this new news, Camdon was still able to walk in his graduation in May 2022 with his degree from Oklahoma State University. Shortly after this, we were on our way down to MD Anderson in Houston, TX to start the process of having a stem cell transplant. At this time we relocated to the Houston area to be near the MD Anderson clinic and stayed with a friend for the next 6 months while he had appointments. On August 2nd he had his stem cell transplant that required a month's stay in the hospital. After he was released we needed to move into an apartment for the next 3 months close by MD Anderson in case there were any issues related to the transplant.

After 3 months we moved to a permanent house in West Columbia, TX where he could be within 45 minutes to an hour away for all of his follow-up appointments. This was a fresh start in a new area for Camdon, and he was looking forward to starting his career in the medical research area of oncology with his Microbiology & Molecular Genetics degree. After 4 months of follow-up appointments and bone marrow testing, he received the news that the cancer cells were present again in his bone marrow. At this time he was referred to see a leukemia doctor at MD Anderson to look at what his next steps would be.

While meeting with his leukemia doctor here at MD Anderson, CAR-T (immune therapy) was the next treatment that was needed. This therapy uses T cells that are extracted from his blood and then they are genetically modified to fight against the cancer cells. They are then placed back into his bloodstream armed with the information to start killing the cancer cells in his body. At the time the doctor was preparing him for this new treatment, Camdon was tested again and it was determined that he had fully relapsed and was right back to where he started in December 2020.

And this brings us to where we are today in his continued fight against Cancer. As you can imagine he has not been able to start his career since he graduated from college and therefore he has not been able to start paying back any of his student loans. All available income is going toward his treatment and for these major medical procedures that will save his life. After two years of managing this ourselves, we are needing some additional help to cover these costs and provide Camdon a fair shot at life to start his career without debt and a clear peace of mind so he can focus on helping find a cure for blood cancers.

#CamsFight