At 22, Ken was a college student in Wisconsin studying biology and psychology, with hopes of going to medical school. But during his senior year, Ken began to experience extreme fatigue and unexplained weight loss. He had trouble completing his assignments and even had to step down from his job as a resident assistant at his dormitory. Finally, while home on spring break, he decided to get checked out. The day he returned to college, he got a call that would change his life. Lab work revealed that he had chronic myeloid leukemia.
Ken had to leave school to begin treatment immediately. Oral chemotherapy was effective for a while, allowing Ken a period of remission, and time to finish his studies and graduate. But gradually, the oral treatment began to fail. Doctors explained that a bone marrow transplant offered his best chance for long term remission. The procedure carried significant risks and required months of recovery, but Ken bravely chose to move forward.
In November, Ken traveled to Indianapolis and was admitted to the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center for high dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant. His siblings stepped forward as stem cell donors, and his mom left their home in Wisconsin to serve as his caregiver. But a major concern remained. After several weeks in the hospital, Ken would need to stay close to the hospital for daily monitoring. A long-term hotel stay would have been financially overwhelming.
Thankfully, a hospital social worker told Ken about Fair Haven. Within days of reaching out, he was told there was space available for him. When Ken was discharged from the hospital in early December, he and his mom moved into a Fair Haven apartment.
“This felt like a saving grace,” Ken said. “The location, the support, the fact that they understand transplant patients. It took a huge weight off our shoulders.”
Recovery has not been easy for Ken. Soon after discharge, he was readmitted and ultimately required a second transplant. There were days when even standing felt exhausting. But slowly, Ken’s strength has begun to return. “As I’ve been staying at Fair Haven, I feel like day by day I’m getting more energy and able to do more on my own.” He now walks on the treadmill in the fitness room and prepares simple meals for himself.
Through it all, Ken’s perspective has changed. “I had to get over the grief that some things weren’t available to me anymore,” Ken said. “I wasn’t the same person I was before the diagnosis. But then it became, ‘Okay, what can I do instead?’”
As difficult as the transplant process was for him, Ken explained that cancer was even tougher mentally than it was physically. That became his inspiration to use what he’s gone through to help others. Ken enrolled in a graduate psychology program at Ball State University. He plans to pursue a career counseling patients facing cancer and bone marrow transplants.
“When you’re in that situation, you realize how much love you’re receiving,” he said. “It makes you want to give back.”
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