Inspirational Stories

My stepdad Gary passed away from leukemia on October 18, 2023. He began feeling ill in September 2023 ― lightheaded and dizzy. He took himself to the hospital, and after several weeks of testing, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) on October 3. He was told he could do treatment, and there was a chance to beat it. He and my mom went to the hospital the next morning to start treatment. On this morning, October 4, the doctor told them that it was a rare variant, acute erythroid leukemia, and there really weren’t any treatment options. We took him home on hospice on October 9, and he passed away on October 18, only 15 days after diagnosis. The whiplash of being told there was treatment to then turning around and saying it wouldn’t work and him passing so quickly was a nightmare. It’s been 10 months since he passed. He was only 66 years old.