Leukemia

Nana’s Heroes was started to honor Lois “Nana” Bowen. When he found out she was sick, Jay, Nana’s grandson, was 13. Around ninth grade, he wanted to do something about it. Although he couldn’t fix her all up or make her all better, he could help raise money to help find a cure for the awful disease that she had.

My name is Jeff Kurowski and I am 35 years old.  I have lived with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) for two years and Crohn's disease (CD) for 20 years.  I have had three feet of my intestines removed.  I now depend on daily bowel suppression medication, monthly B12 shots, biologic therapy for a quality of life, and a daily targeted chemotherapy pill to stay alive.

In the summer of 2006 I received a letter in the mail much like what you get around the holidays telling of the adventures over the past year.  My friend had recently moved to Tucson with her family.  She shared pictures of their kids and told about the transition from the Seattle area to Tucson.

I was the longest leukemia patient on G111 at the Cleveland Clinic. I spent 135 days on the floor fighting every day. I was there so long that when they could not find a way to get my numbers back up, we would call it Ground Hog Day. Every day for about a month, nothing would change.

Brian Shaw (a.k.a. “Little Man”) is an energetic, happy, intelligent and compassionate six-year-old boy. For nearly a year, starting when he was four, several of those characteristics seemed submerged beneath the side effects of daily chemotherapy that followed his diagnosis with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

My daughter Payton is a two-time cancer survivor. She had acute myeloid leukemia (AML). She had a cord blood transplant on March 8, 2012. She has a dog and a cat, and she loves camping, spending time with her family and playing outside with her friends. She thinks cancer is nasty and she hated it. She is a fighter.

I would first and foremost like to introduce you to a most special lady.  My Nana.

Within 24 hours of going to the local emergency room in New York, I found myself being admitted to the Dana Farber/Brigham Women's Cancer Center in Boston. It was August of 2013 and I was exhausted beyond anything my four kids could inflict upon me and shocked to find out it wasn't anemia, I had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).