The Leisey Family

Written by the family: Hunter was diagnosed with AML Leukemia on August 22, 2012 - just before his thirteenth birthday. Within just a few hours of receiving the news we were on our way to Penn State Children's Hospital. Hunter underwent 3 rounds of chemotherapy (he was in the hospital about a month each round and then home for a few days then back in for another month). After the first 2 rounds of chemo, the doctors still found cancer cells.
At that point, the doctors told us Hunter was going to need a bone marrow transplant. They tested Hunter's brother, Cody to see if he would be a match for Hunter. We were thrilled to get the news Cody was a match. However, just a month before Hunter was diagnosed with leukemia, Cody was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and we were told Cody was not able to be the donor. We were all devastated, but felt  blessed when the doctors were able to find an unrelated donor that was a 10 out of 10 match, which is the best you can have besides a sibling.
After his third round of chemo, we finally were told that they didn't detect any cancer cells, and Hunter was in remission. We were able to enjoy having Hunter home with us for several weeks. Then, on January 23, 2013 Hunter went back into the hospital to be prepped for his bone marrow transplant. He under went his fourth round of chemo, which was by far was the hardest for him to take. Hunter was in the hospital for about 6 weeks. Once he was released from the hospital, we stayed in an apartment in Hershey that kept him within minutes from the hospital. Hunter had to stay isolated for the first 100 days after his transplant. By mid-May, we were able to bring Hunter home to stay. Hunter has follow up visits once a month and remains in remission at this time. 

Our board with the Leisey family