In 2013, at 42 years old, Larry was diagnosed with Leukemia. This was devastating news to our family. But after an aggressive treatment of chemo, he was in remission by January 2014. Unfortunately, last summer he was told he had MDS. This is an inability to reproduce healthy blood cells and typically precedes Leukemia.
This began his next fight. He was treated with 4 hard rounds of chemo and had a Stem Cell Transplant in January 2017. We were told this would be the best solution to prevent Leukemia's return, and given his young age and overall health, it should be a slam dunk. It wasn't. The stem cells never graphed to replace his cancerous ones and he was discharged from Northwestern Hospital just over a month ago, in mid June 2017, on hospice with only 2 weeks to live.
We immediately sought out a 2nd opinion and found ourselves at the best Leukemia Center in the world, MD Anderson in Houston, TX. This is a LONG way from our home in Chicago, IL, but a 2nd chance at life. He took the last spot in a clinical trial and we are hopeful that this treatment will knock down the Leukemia and MDS so that he can have another Stem Cell Transplant.
However, this treatment does not come without it's challenges. In order to heal his infections, he requires regular White Blood Cell transfusions. They don't keep these cells in the blood bank. It's the patients responsibility to recruit donors. Furthermore, the process for white blood cell donation is involved, taking between 3-5 days and testing is only done in Houston. Included in the July 28 journal entry are the qualifications for this process.
Additionally, Larry is no longer able to work and required to be in Houston for up to 3 months. As you can imagine, this has resulted in an incredible financial burden for our family. For those wanting to contribute in some way, we've set up a GoFundMe page.
https://www.gofundme.com/4d-love-for-larry Please know that each and every dollar matters and affords him the ability to get the treatment he so desperately needs.
We are eternally grateful to all of your support whether through prayer, sharing or donation.
Coppola Strong
Kelly, Madison (19), Luke (13), Faith (11), Cate (10) and of course Larry
