About
If you are here, there is a good chance your kid was just diagnosed and you are trying to get your feet under you. This site is made to help you.
What this site does
It tries to do two things well.
Help you find help. There is a layer of support your family may have a right to, like Medicaid, disability payments, job protection and hospital billing rules, and it is different in every state. There is also a lot of help that other people give: gas cards, lodging, bills, counseling, camps. I have gathered both, and the finder ranks programs by what your family needs, so you walk in knowing what to ask for. This part is for any family with a kid who has cancer, not just leukemia.
Help you understand the treatment. For B-ALL, I have worked through the treatment protocols (AALL1731 in full, with AALL1732 on the way) and written a page for each of the drugs, with an everyday analogy and a short visual. I try hard to stay away from medical advice and just present journal information or medical studies.
What I try to do is read studies and data and give you a version that is easier to understand, with a link to every source, so you can go as deep as you want.
Who I am
My name is Keegan, and I'm a dad. My kid has B-ALL, the most common kind of childhood leukemia. I'm not a doctor or a nurse. I'm a parent who happens to enjoy research and statistics, and who spent a lot of late nights reading papers after the diagnosis. I think that helped me feel a little in control (when I was very much not in control of my kid's leukemia).
How I try to get things right
Every medical claim links to where I read it: the National Cancer Institute's PDQ summaries, the published papers, ClinicalTrials.gov, Children's Oncology Group materials and drug labels. If something is not linked, please treat it as my own understanding rather than settled fact.
Each program listing is checked against the program's own website, and shows the date I last checked it. Programs change their rules and run out of money, so please take every listing as a lead. Only the program or agency can tell you whether your family qualifies.
The disclaimer, plainly
I'm a dad with a kid who has B-ALL leukemia and felt other parents might benefit from some of the information I hunted for when my child was diagnosed. I'm not a doctor, social worker, or medical professional and this should never replace your care team's decisions.
That means this site does not interpret your child's results, assign a risk group, recommend a protocol or a drug, or tell you that you qualify for a program.
I'm just trying to help save you time and point you in a direction to explore.
Spotted a mistake?
I would be grateful if you told me. I would much rather fix it than have another parent read something wrong. You can also write if there is something you wish was here.