John needs your help!  

John, a Lake Hopatcong, NJ resident, has been battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia with a FLT3 mutation for over 2 ½ years.  At the time of his diagnosis (November 2017) he was a junior at Siena College, playing rugby and just starting to enjoy his independence.  That changed immediately when he went to the hospital (Robert Wood Johnson) for what he thought was mono and turned out to be AML (chemotherapy began 42 hours later).  His initial treatment was 4 rounds of chemo (21 days each) with 1 week break between rounds.  This lasted for approximately 8 months and included a trip to the ICU due to numerous side effects both mentally and physically (including memory loss).  One of those side effects is called “red man syndrome” where he lost all the skin from his hands and feet.  

In June of 2018 John and his mom Denise thought that everything was finally behind them as he had finally entered remission, however by that November John had relapsed.  Once again chemotherapy began only this time it gradually began to cause blindness so his treatments had to be paused.  John sat in darkness for weeks on end and has since gone through numerous eye treatments and surgeries.  Finally, with the help of glasses, most of John’s sight was restored.  

In April of 2019 John underwent his first bone marrow transplant (BMT) where he stayed in the hospital for 100 straight days.  Post his BMT his bone marrow biopsy revealed that he had relapsed again but with both pneumonia and a staph infection as well.  At this point the doctors had given John about 2 months to live, however somehow John has beat the odds and made it through a second BMT in February of 2020.  As of now he is past his 100 day mark and considered NED (no evidence of disease)!  But this road is far from over.  Even though John is technically in remission, he still needs to take approximately 30 pills a day in addition to his eye care that needs to happen multiple times each day. John will continue weekly visits to clinic for check-ups and blood draws and will continue with chemo for the next year if possible. He unfortunately has kidney issues due to chemo so they’re really hoping that they don’t begin to fail or else he’ll need to stop the chemo immediately with a very high chance of his cancer returning due to the type of mutation that he has.  

Denise lost her husband about 10 years ago so she and John have been having to manage his fight on their own.   She of course has brought him to every doctor’s appointment, ensuring that all of his meds are being taken and is continuing to do everything in her power to make sure John is always in a healthy environment.  As you can imagine, all of this has been extremely difficult financially as Denise has been unable to work.  We’re hoping through the kindness of strangers we can help both John and Denise get back on their feet as they continue to feel the residual effects of John’s fight.  

Any donation is appreciated for John and his mom Denise and for those of you who want to do more, please feel free to contact us directly (info@InfiniteLoveForKids.org).  

If you'd like to send gift-cards or a check for John please send them to: 

ILFKFC

c/o: John Strong

P.O. Box 4064

Middletown, NJ 07748

Gift Cards can be to: Any gas stations, ShopRite, Grub-Hub or UberEats. 

Thank you for helping!  Please consider sharing John’s story with your own friends and family, they could use all of the help that they can get.

Please be advised, that while Infinite Love for Kids is a 501(c)(3) charity, the IRS does NOT allow tax deductions for donations that are directed to a specific person or family.

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