First of all, thank you to all who have donated to help and continued to pray for Kate’s cure. Both generosities have been vital to keeping her going and it is appreciated more than we can express.  

The path for Kate has, unfortunately, been much different and much more difficult than was anticipated. Since the beginning of this donation drive, every plan that was made or assumed has turned out differently.  

We learned in February that Kate’s myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) had become Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). That quick transition moved her out of the possibility for a bone marrow transplant and into different attempts at chemotherapy to eliminate her blast cells. The blast cell count needed to be below 5% in her blood for a transplant protocol, and unfortunately her blood counts reached 97% blasts in March. Chemotherapy of different types were used in 2 rounds in January and February with no success. In early March she was moved inpatient after some prophylactic medications had some negative side effects causing pressure on her brain and optic nerve. The AML was discovered, chemotherapy began, and she quickly ended up in ICU as her breathing began a precipitous decline. The chemo rounds and inflammation led to a response in her body called Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). At this point she was unable to breath on her own and plans were made to put her in a medically induced coma and intubate her. The doctors also informed us that with Kate’s blast cells level they need to start a third and much more powerful round of chemo for the AML and a powerful steroid round for the HLH as soon as possible. The prognosis for the chemo was a 15% success rate, and as expected, Kate said let’s go. Within 24hrs of this plan, Kate rallied and was able to hold her breathing levels enough that the doctors put the coma plan on hold. Kate initially tolerated the intensive chemo well for a few days but was unable to finish the last portion, as an ammonia poisoning from some medication interactions entered her brain. For several days she became incoherent and then nearly unresponsive overall. Tina and I had the terrible duty of deciding what to do for her not to suffer while still respecting her wishes to fight on. Her team  came up with a plan to move forward with intubation to make her comfortable, then try all the options to bring her back and fight the leukemia. We agreed it seemed the best course for her but had them hold off for 24 hours and try removing some prophylactic meds she was on that we felt were causing the ammonia by our own research. They felt that was fine as we were running out of options — and miraculously, again, Kate rallied and regained consciousness the next day. After several days of recovery, a bone marrow biopsy showed that all the cells in her marrow had been destroyed. The doctors were surprised and encouraged by the result but fully expected the leukemia cells to return in full force within weeks.  

At this point, Kate’s team of doctors from both Wake and NIH brought the idea of jumping into a bone marrow transplant as soon as possible while the marrow was empty as a swing at something for her. We agreed, and 9 days later it was all lined up. The donor from the registry made themselves available immediately, insurance approved quickly, and all the bureaucratic red tape miraculously fell in line - multiple people across this process told us they had NEVER seen all the transplant details come together so quickly and smoothly. Kate started conditioning chemo on 5/2/25, received the transplant stem cells on 5/9/25 and the process has so far been successful. She’s had a tough run of side effects but continues to power through. We should know about engraftment in a couple more weeks and she’ll hopefully get to come home in early June.  

The clinical prognosis is not great, as doctors expect the transplant to be effective and give her a few to several more months, but then the leukemia to return, and at that point we will have exhausted all options. We remain in miracle mode as the Man upstairs has final say. She has rallied from near death twice, had an artery cut during a procedure, internal bleeding, and myriad other smaller problems but fights on and laughs and jokes every day. She is nothing short of a HERO for me and Tina and the rest of our family, and God willing will continue to be for decades to come.      

We thank you all again for your continued prayers, support and love for our family - we are so grateful and are praying for each of you as well!