Dear Friend,

I am honored to participate in the 2019 Students of the Year program, a seven-week initiative in which select high school students from around the country participate in a fundraising competition to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I am proud to be raising critical dollars in honor of a young patient hero (my 15 y/o son, Logan) who is currently  in remission from a blood cancer. Each dollar is a vote. The candidate team that raises the most money at the end of the seven weeks is named Student(s) of the Year. Our mission is to not only raise the most money but also to bring attention to blood cancers like leukemia, which is the most common form of cancer in children and teens.

My story:  It all started with a cough... we were at a high school basketball game watching our son Logan, who was 13 at the time, run the court.  He looked a little sluggish and didn't get as much playing time as we were used to.  On the way home from the game he was fustrated and had a little cough.  The cough had been around for about a week... what seemed like normal school "bugs"... but we decided to stop at the urgent care on the way home from the game and get some antibiotics.  We went to Doctor's Care at Ivy Hall, in Mt. Pleasant... our usual physician.  He was diagnosed with bronchitis and we were out the door, antibiotics in hand, and on the road to wellness... or so we thought.  A week later at the next game we had the same feeling... something isn't quite right.  He's not playing enough... not himself on the court.  On the way home he was still coughing... so we went back to Doctor's Care for a follow-up.  We were thinking "he probably just needs a stronger antibiotic.  In this day and age of antimicrobial hand soaps, the abuse and overuse of antibiotics and industrial strength cleaners, and the such.  Bacteria are getting stronger these days."  The Doc checks him out again and supposes pneumonia, but before he sends us home with a stronger antibiotic he suggests we do a quick chest X-Ray... "Just to be sure" he says.  A quick trip up the hall and back... few minutes go by... and the Doc asks me to step out into the hallway for a sec.  I oblige, a little odd... but then he ushers me over to a screen with the XRay image on it as tells me that something is "not normal".  He's not sure what it is exactly, but the heart and chest cavity in the picture looks off.  "Go directly to MUSC Children's Hospital downtown", he says.  "Go to the ER, and give them this disk with the XRay on it.  They are going to run a few tests and admit you."  Now I've got cold sweats... I head back to the room, collect Logan, and head to the waiting room and rejoin his impatiently waiting mother.  They joke that I'll never be allowed to take anyone to the doctor again after this one... sent to the hospital... rolled eyes, heads shaking... c'mon man.  By the end of that day we would be told that our active and athletic 13 year old has cancer.

My son Logan was diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma in Dec 2017... a week before his 14th birthday and two weeks before Christmas.  We went from being excited about our healthy 8th grader making the Wando High School basketball team, and preparing for a busy Holiday season... to hearing he has tumors around his heart and in each of his lungs and spending weeks in the hospital watching him undergo CT scans, Xrays, blood tests, surgeries to take lung and bone marrow biopsies, surgery to place a port, and starting chemotherapy... all before New Years.  Our family spent the next 6 months supporting him as he fought through cancer treatment and the associated complications.

 - 5 21-day rounds of experimental chemotherapy - a week hospital stay after developing a blood clot (DVT) that blocked 75% of his right atrium in his heart - moved to Jacksonville, FL for a month while he had 15 rounds of Proton Radiation to his chest cavity - 200+ self-administered injections of Lovenox (blood thinner) to his own stomach (2 times a day) - weekly (sometimes daily) trips to MUSC pediatric oncology for chemo and blood tests - 50+ scans, ultrasounds and Xrays - Taking up to 40+ pills per day during chemo - 6 months of not being allowed to attend school because the terrible flu season...

He is now in REMISSION! 

We are participating in this program not only to raise money for LLS... but to achieve something positive and promote healing for our family after what has been a very challenging time in our lives for the past year.  This is therapy.

Please help us raise funds to support the research of new treatments... this will save and improve lives.  Please help us work towards a cure.  Please help us raise funds to support those undergoing treatment who need education, or care they can't otherwise afford, or rides to the clinic, the list is endless... and every little bit helps. 

All donations are greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. They'll not only support LLS-funded research but will help provide critical information and support for patients, and support advocacy for laws to ensure patients can access the care and treatments they need.

Please visit our website often and bring friends who would also like to donate!

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere, thank you for your support!

For more information about LLS, please visit www.lls.org.

Thank you for your time.

Brandon Maciejewski

PS - Here is a video of Logan ringing the bell at the UF Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville, FL.  This took place in May, after 5 rounds of 21 day chemo cycles at MUSC in Charleston, and another 15 sessions of proton radiation therapy at UFPTI in Jacksonville.  We moved to Jax for a month while he finished up radiation treatment.  The folks standing around are all the doctors and nurses that we worked with while there... and he had a special surprise for them... in typical Logan fashion.  Most folks just walk up to the bell, give it a quick and gentle ring.  Folks in the room, who are all patients and family members waiting for their turn in one of the three proton rooms, generally clap in support.  This guy made a SCENE! LOL