In March of 2021 Michael was working construction out of state when he started having night sweats, excessive bruising and a persistent fatigue. He went to the emergency room and just by the blood results he was told that he most likely had some type of blood cancer, so he flew back home to Florida to be with his family and to receive an official diagnosis from Moffitt Cancer Center. At first, he was in a bit of shock, but the news hit me hard from the beginning. He is the love of my life, my best friend and a wonderful father to our children. It is difficult to even write this and go through the emotions of it all. We have a 15-month and a 6-year-old together and I can’t imagine them growing up without him. After finding Moffit Cancer Center and getting a bone marrow biopsy they concluded that he had Acute Myloid Leukemia with an intermediate to high-risk prognosis. We knew by the prognosis that he would eventually have to get a bone marrow transplant, what we didn’t know was that after harrowing months in the hospital and 3 rounds of Chemo, he would only be in remission for 6 weeks and would have to begin the process for the BMT this soon.
As for now he had just finished his 4th round of chemo and is now on maintenance chemo until he meets the requirements for getting the Bone Marrow Transplant. These requirements are what we need the funds for. One of the requirements is he needs to have a full dental clearance; He recently went to an appointment and in order for him to be cleared for the BMT he would have to get 5 teeth pulled. The reason for the dental work is because they cannot contain an infection like that while getting the transplant because he will have no immune system to fight it off. He went to two other dentists to try and get different opinion’s but they pretty much all said the same thing. He also has to be within 30 minutes of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa for the duration of his treatment and recovery. We live 3 hours away in Okeechobee, so we would have to pay for lodging, food and transportation to and from. The process for a BMT can take months and we really need these funds so we can start that process. They do have lodging they provide but Medicaid only covers it while getting treatment not for when he is recovering, and the recovery takes about 4 months. I work part time and care for our children there is only so much I can do so we also need a full-time caretaker now and after he leaves hospital and is recovering.
After seeing what he went through during chemo I have a whole new level of empathy for people who have this terrible illness. I don’t want to get into detail what happens when they dump chemo into your body but trust me it is difficult to watch someone you love suffer the way he has. He is the most selfless person I have ever known and even with poison being dumped into his body and getting poked and prodded every week he is still more worried about us than he is himself and I owe him doing everything I can to help him recover mentally and physically. I wouldn’t have the life I have today if it weren’t for him, he always hoped for the best and loved me through my worst. He has always been there for us and has helped anyone around him in need. Please help Michael continue the good fight. Thank you for your prayers, good faith and generosity. God bless.