At 25, Chris Cleveland was just getting started in life. He had his own apartment in South Bend, Indiana, where he worked as a restaurant manager, training new employees and keeping things at the restaurant running smoothly. As a young adult, Chris enjoyed his independence and was seemingly healthy. Then the unthinkable happened.
After experiencing some unexplained pain in his abdomen, Chris went to the emergency room. At first, he was sent home, but then a radiologist spotted a tumor on his x-ray. A biopsy confirmed that Chris had cancer. He was immediately transferred to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis. Chris was started on intensive chemotherapy that made him extremely sick, but the treatment wasn’t effective. Doctors soon realized that it wasn’t working because Chris had been misdiagnosed. After more testing, Chris was finally diagnosed with AML, acute myeloid leukemia.
Seemingly overnight, Chris’s life had been completely uprooted. His parents, Christopher and Kristy, were overwhelmed with the news of his diagnosis. “It was all so fast and unexpected,” Kristy shared. It began a journey of many long drives to Indianapolis. Chris explained, “In the beginning, we tried to drive the two or three hours to Indianapolis while I felt very sick. It just wasn’t a good situation at all…And then there are places like Fair Haven that help people. They have helped me so much, and they have helped my mom and dad. They have a place to stay while I’m in the hospital.”
The family traveled back and forth from South Bend for several months of chemotherapy treatments. Finally, Chris was ready for what they hoped would be a cure—a stem cell transplant. Chris was hospitalized for more than a month, and his younger brother Caleb was his stem cell donor. When he was finally discharged, it meant the world to Chris to have a home-away-from-home at one of Fair Haven’s apartments. Because of his illness, Chris had no longer been able to pay the rent for his apartment in northern Indiana, and his parents had to end the lease and move out all his things. It had felt like a huge step backwards for this young man who desperately wanted to move forward with his life. “His biggest sadness [was] to lose EVERYTHING,” his mom Kristy shared. “He was not even allowed to go pack up his own apartment. He had to give it up.”
While staying at Fair Haven, Chris made great strides. From laying out his 50-pill regimen each day to managing trips back and forth to the hospital on his own, he got stronger with each new day. When he wasn’t at the hospital, he enjoyed reconnecting with friends via gaming, and he also tried to keep up with online college courses. The experience opened his eyes to the challenges that many face as they battle a serious illness while far from home. “I know I’m young and haven’t seen a lot,” he said. “But it’s crazy that there’s so many people who get sick from far away and must travel for care.”
Chris’s mom Kristy was grateful for all that Fair Haven did for her son. “This has helped Christopher get his independence back and feel like he has something he can call home…I feel like it has gotten him through this process of the transplant.”
His dad Christopher agreed. “I don’t know how we would have made it. Even just the emotional support has helped a lot, too. We’re very grateful.”
But the best news came for Chris and his parents came just before Christmas, when scans showed NO evidence of cancer!
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