Thank you for visiting Ari's CaringBridge website. We will use this site to keep family and friends updated. We truly appreciate the outpouring of love, support and prayers we are receiving every day-please know how grateful we are, even if we can't always respond individually. We want you to know we are not asking for donations to this website; the website will not allow users to turn off the Donate requests-please ignore them on Ari's behalf. If you would like to make a donation, please consider supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as they search for a cure for the kind of cancer Ari is fighting.
https://www.lls.org/A week or two before Thanksgiving, Ari began to feel what we thought was severe acid reflux. Fast forward a few weeks, he began to feel various additional symptoms that led him to an appointment with an internal doctor on December 8. A chest x-ray showed fluid in his lungs, and we immediately took him to St. Barnabas for additional tests. Later that evening a test revealed a large mass over his chest, which they quickly did a biopsy on. Preliminary results reveal Lymphoma. Ari was then transferred to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital where he is going to get the best care and treatment! After a few days of further honing in on the diagnosis, his doctors confirmed that Ari has a rare form of Lymphoma called " T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma (LBL)," which is actually treated as a Leukemia.
In the past nine months, Ari and I have spoken a lot about how much we have to be grateful for during this dark time in our world. And we still feel that way, even in this very dark moment. We are grateful for technology, which has kept us in touch minute to minute. We are grateful for gifted and dedicated medical staff who are taking such good care of Ari. We are grateful for our immediate and extended family who are supporting us and the girls. We are grateful for all of you who have checked in, brought us goodies, and begun to support us spiritually and practically. Thank you for keeping Ari in your thoughts and prayers, his Hebrew name is Tzvi Melech ben Sarah v'Meir. We love you all.
