Help my brother through treatment
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Jena Bence. My brother Adam Bence recently found out his Leukemia has returned, and he will be starting treatment on Monday, June 22nd. He will be off work for about 2 months and his short term disability is horrible- it's not even enough to cover his car payment every month. My brother is not the type of person to ask for help, so I’m doing it for him. His biggest concern is not the actual treatment itself but figuring out how he will be able to meet his financial obligations each month.
Can you imagine what it must be like to deal with a Cancer diagnosis on a daily basis and have it be the first thing that you think of every morning when you wake up and every night when you go to sleep… on top of that, add the stress of not being able to pay your bills? Unfortunately, everyday life still happens and bills will still need to be paid. This is an added stress that he does not need.
Adam’s saying has always been “It takes each of us to make a difference for all of us”…. Now it is time for us to help Adam.
My brothers story...
In 2006, a year after graduating high school, Adam went to the doctors because he wasn’t feeling well. After blood work, several doctors’ appointments, and having a painful bone marrow biopsy, he was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL). This type of leukemia is very rare, and the average age of diagnosis is 55. He was one of the youngest people ever to be diagnosed with HCL. After going through chemotherapy, he started to feel a lot better, and his white count started to slowly rise. He entered remission, and he started to get back to a normal life.
In 2009, his white count started to drop again, so they ordered another biopsy. To our surprise, his leukemia had returned. He was more concerned about his family than he was for himself, and he made sure he stayed positive so that he could kick this cancers butt once again. Well, after going through more treatment, he did exactly that, and he went back into remission!!
Since 2006, Adam made it his personal goal to raise as much money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as he could. He started off by holding a small yard sale in our parent’s front yard, and I think he ended up raising around $300 that first year. Each year his sale grew bigger, and it eventually turned into a yearly flea market. In the past 9 years he raised over $100,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
As you can see from all of Adam’s volunteer work, he is someone that is always looking out for and helping others. When he was diagnosed with HCL- instead of taking on the “why me” attitude, he took it as an opportunity in which he could help others.
The past few years have been very difficult for our family, and even more so on Adam. We lost our grandfather John Florian very suddenly in 2011 at the age of 81. Our mom Susie Bence was diagnosed with cancer in January 2012, and after a year of very aggressive treatments, she lost her battle with cancer in November 2012 at the age of 53. The next year was very rough after losing our mom in 2012, and Adam put all his efforts into raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. In 2014 when everything started to feel like it was getting back to normal, our dad suddenly lost his job. The rest of 2014 was very rough just trying to get by and pay the bills. In February 2015, our grandma went in the hospital for a simple procedure and ended up in and out of the ICU for the next few months. We lost her in April 2015 at the age of 76.
With everything that our family has overcome, Adam’s upcoming treatment is just another bump in the road that I KNOW we will get through.
Can you imagine what it must be like to deal with a Cancer diagnosis on a daily basis and have it be the first thing that you think of every morning when you wake up and every night when you go to sleep… on top of that, add the stress of not being able to pay your bills? Unfortunately, everyday life still happens and bills will still need to be paid. This is an added stress that he does not need.
Adam’s saying has always been “It takes each of us to make a difference for all of us”…. Now it is time for us to help Adam.
My brothers story...
In 2006, a year after graduating high school, Adam went to the doctors because he wasn’t feeling well. After blood work, several doctors’ appointments, and having a painful bone marrow biopsy, he was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL). This type of leukemia is very rare, and the average age of diagnosis is 55. He was one of the youngest people ever to be diagnosed with HCL. After going through chemotherapy, he started to feel a lot better, and his white count started to slowly rise. He entered remission, and he started to get back to a normal life.
In 2009, his white count started to drop again, so they ordered another biopsy. To our surprise, his leukemia had returned. He was more concerned about his family than he was for himself, and he made sure he stayed positive so that he could kick this cancers butt once again. Well, after going through more treatment, he did exactly that, and he went back into remission!!
Since 2006, Adam made it his personal goal to raise as much money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as he could. He started off by holding a small yard sale in our parent’s front yard, and I think he ended up raising around $300 that first year. Each year his sale grew bigger, and it eventually turned into a yearly flea market. In the past 9 years he raised over $100,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
As you can see from all of Adam’s volunteer work, he is someone that is always looking out for and helping others. When he was diagnosed with HCL- instead of taking on the “why me” attitude, he took it as an opportunity in which he could help others.
The past few years have been very difficult for our family, and even more so on Adam. We lost our grandfather John Florian very suddenly in 2011 at the age of 81. Our mom Susie Bence was diagnosed with cancer in January 2012, and after a year of very aggressive treatments, she lost her battle with cancer in November 2012 at the age of 53. The next year was very rough after losing our mom in 2012, and Adam put all his efforts into raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. In 2014 when everything started to feel like it was getting back to normal, our dad suddenly lost his job. The rest of 2014 was very rough just trying to get by and pay the bills. In February 2015, our grandma went in the hospital for a simple procedure and ended up in and out of the ICU for the next few months. We lost her in April 2015 at the age of 76.
With everything that our family has overcome, Adam’s upcoming treatment is just another bump in the road that I KNOW we will get through.
Organizer and beneficiary
Jena Suzanne
Organizer
Homestead, PA
Adam Bence
Beneficiary
