Brody was a sweet loving 5 year old, who was diagnosed with AML Leukemia, at 2 years old. He started at Robert Wood Johnson, until we learned his cancer was rare. After a week, we transferred to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He received 3 rounds of chemotherapy, which was inpatient, spending 4 weeks there at a time, one week home. He then received a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor on November 3, 2018 (THANK YOU!!) 10/10 match, spending 6 long weeks inpatient.

We then had to move within an hour of CHOP for 4-6 months, is what we were told. We signed a 4 month lease, and only ended up needing 6 weeks of our apartment. He did WONDERFUL!! Until approaching his One Year in Remission date... we learned of his low platelets which raised concern with his Oncologist. It was our first visit back with her, away from the Transplant Team. Brody had relapsed.

Looking back, we learned on August 2, 2018 he was in remission. On August 2, 2019, we were told his cancer was back. Brody went through 3 more rounds of chemotherapy, completed 6 sessions of radiation, without sedation, and received his (second) transplant on January 8th! He relapsed again, on his 60 day bone marrow biopsy. We then relocated, temporarily, to St. Louis Children's Hospital, in Missouri. Brody took part in the NK Cell Trial. It knocked down his leukemia, but then took a turn in the other direction.

We returned back home, with no curative plan in place. He started taking an oral chemotherapy pill, two times a week. We were also under the care of a Wellness Doctor, in which was all out of pocket expenses. After 6 weeks, we learned, nothing was helping. We prayed for a miracle. Unfortunately, he slowly declined, and we just knew. Although we had a very small chance of hope, we weren’t letting go.

We all continued to give it our all. Clinic visits were basically daily, and weekend visits to the ER, just to keep up with blood products. Brody started to become very weak, and simple daily tasks were getting harder and harder. The night before he passed away, he had enough energy to play a quick game of basketball. He was always a champion. Brody took his last breath on December 12, 2020. After 907 days of fighting, he was finally pain free. Because of everyone’s love, support, and generosity, you’ve inspired us to start this new journey, as a non-profit organization, Brody’s Crew.

We look forward to helping families that are dealing with a pediatric cancer diagnosis, knowing it can’t be done alone. 

2018’s Journey