Donate to Dylan - My Grandson

Dylan Praskins - 5 years old
UPDATE
- Oct 1, 2023 - My now 13-year old grandson Dylan has survived a fatal form of Leukemia (ALL) he got when he was an infant. After months and months of early hospitalization and intense treatments including chemo, radiation, and a rare cord blood transplant, he is now free from the Leukemia itself (a miracle in my book) and we are hopeful for an improving future although there are many challenges ahead for us. 

His continued care for associated physical, mental, and social related issues demands much added expense for his parents (my son Erik & daughter-in-law Michelle), and because they have no insurance (it got used up a long time ago) they have to pay "out-of-pocket" for all expenses including continued doctor visits for cancer checkups for his brain as well as other medical needs because of the damage the early treatment (radiation, chemo) did to the rest of his body. 

We love him very much and one of the big reasons I do this blog is to help my grandson through small donations from generous people like you who may also have gone through severe medical issues in your life or know a family member who may now be dealing with health issues or has died from Leukemia. I think we all know people like that who have been through difficult times.

Picture of Dylan
Dylan at 9 years old
Although Dylan may overall "look" fairly normal at this point, he is far from that. Dylan has physical & severe mental developmental issues, including very poor eyesight, due to the intense treatment (chemo & radiation) he received for the Leukemia when he was an infant through age 1, but it took a while to see if Dylan would develop normally or not. We have known for awhile that he does not operate and behave normally including not being able to communicate much past a 3-4 year old level and not able to say many words, as well as being visually impaired with poor vision due to glaucoma issues. 

Dylan's brain & thought functions are impaired where it is difficult for him to learn to discern right from wrong in different situations as he will behave in unpredictable ways sometimes which are far from normal and can be disturbing to his surroundings and other people who do not understand. It's almost like he has autism in some ways because much of the time he lives in his own world. What Dylan has is now commonly referred to as "chemo brain" and it continues to be a source of dysfunction throughout his life in a variety of ways, as I mentioned.

Dylan Praskins in Hospital undergoing brain tests
As Dylan continues to grow he also continues to show us that he is learning new things and developing in small but noticeable ways. However, at the same time he displays new health issues as he grows along with the ones he already has. He was having brain seizures a while ago but has been on meds to help with that, but the medications are expensive. Basically the neurons in his brain go haywire without warning and can have a seizure which is scary to go through for him and equally scary for his parents to watch him go through it. 

His parents (Erik & Michelle) cannot really afford a lot of his care since they do not have insurance that will cover many of these things. But it is such a blessing for him and his family (parents, etc) to not go through these terrible seizures because of what this medicine is doing for him.

Pediatric Developmental Therapy logo
The bottom line is that Dylan needs and is undergoing long term professional developmental care and therapy which is necessary and continues to be costly and is beyond our family's ability to pay for. Some days Dylan's long term needs seem severe and other days not as bad, it goes back and forth. But regardless of that, we love him and need to help care for him with the hope he can improve somewhat over time (he already has little by little). Something I did not mention yet is that through a dental checkup a few years ago, we learned that Dylan has no teeth coming in at all since he began losing his baby which happened much later than a healthy child, and he is now 14 years old.  

Dylan at 13 years old
Thank you to all the people out there who have donated to help my grandson Dylan and his ongoing mental and physical needs. Dylan is now 14 years old (a teenager) as can be seen in this recent photo of him, but his ongoing physical, mental, and social needs are still there. He has come a long way but is still challenged in so many ways and will likely need ongoing care and supervision for the remainder of his life, unless an unexpected miracle occurs. But...he is "generally" a happy child and is growing in his ability to understand his surroundings.  

With regard to his physical needs, Dylan has no teeth (as I already mentioned) because of all the chemo and radiation treatment he previously received when he was a baby that killed off many of his healthy brain cells/neurons during his early childhood physical development. Dylan will not be able to have anything done about his teeth issues until he is older past teenage years when possible orthodontia work can actually be done, which will be expensive. He'll have no teeth to chew for now with which is hard to believe, but true. He just does the best that he can but he eats a lot of food these days, just like growing boys normally do..

But...the issues this growing boy has to deal with is still huge...but yet he smiles and laughs (some of the time) and can be a fun kid and shows love to people (when he is in the mood:)...you never know when that will be because he is generally unpredictable when it comes to that kind of response and behavior. That can be frustrating for his Mom & Dad as every parent wants their child to love them and be "normal.".

Please Donate Logo
I am asking anyone who appreciates my blog reviews (which I do at my own expense and time) if you would consider donating a small amount towards Dylan's expenses? It would mean so much to me and my family, and we are hopeful that one day we will see some much needed physical, mental, & interactive social improvements, although it is still very challenging right now as I have talked about. We have seen some small improvements over the years with the therapy he has received that we are able to afford along with his special needs school that he is in. 

But Dylan still has a very long way to go physically, mentally and socially assuming his Leukemia never comes back which are hopeful that it won't and it has not so far. We are praying that a miracle will occur and that we will see some dramatic improvements with Dylan over time because he is loved by many.

All proceeds will go directly to Dylan's continued care.
No donation is too small

Go to the following link here to learn about our involvement in the American Cancer Society and the Arizona "Cord Blood Program" which helped save Dylan's life.

Also, take a look at this video below to get a good idea of what Dylan's parents (Erik & Michelle Praskins) went through when Dylan was diagnosed with Leukemia when he was a baby. Oh, and we were at their side for most of it.
 
 Thank you in advance for your generosity!


11 comments:

Unknown said...

I'll try to donate!
I've had leukemia myself, it's horrible.
I wish the best for everyone!

Unknown said...

I will also try to donate, what an inspiring yet heartbreaking story. May God bless Dylan and your family.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to send my thoughts to all of you. In England we take our free health service for granted...my daughter spent many years in hospital with an eating disorder and then developed Hodgkin's lymphoma when she was 21.She is now thirty and amazing. The treatment for is advancing all the time and I really hope things go well for Dylan...my family will think about him and wish him a great future. Stuart

Anonymous said...

I spoke with you today and am donating right now. I HATE cancer.

Bernard Moses said...

I am in the Philippines and would love to donate to the Dylan fund. However, I only have and American Express credit card and you do not accept that card. Is there any other way that I may donate?

Bernard

MyGoogPics said...

Have you heard of the complimentary way of eating, Ketogenic, to assist treatment and healing? The sugar and flour diet is extremely inflammatory. LCHF is healing. I know as a former type two diabetic.


Anonymous said...

Hello Tim,

First of all, thank you for this site.

Secondly, the donation link on the right hand sidebar is just a link to Paypal. I tried to donate through that link a few times but only brought up my account with no reference to donating for Dylan. I was able to donate through the link above however, perhaps copy the code for the working link to the one that just goes to Paypal?

God Bless your family,
Ross Burton

Harj Sangha - Vancouver, BC, Canada said...

Hi Tim, Erik & Family,

Over the last 5-6 weeks, I have spent a lot of time reading and re-reading your reviews. During that time, I noticed Dylan's picture and read his story. My mother passed from a brain tumor. My daughter was born with a minor heart condition. My wife and I wanted to donate something to help your family out. Today, I made the donation using the paypal link. I hope the small amount helps with those medical costs.

Our family's love, thoughts and prayers are with you.

God Bless.

Bob said...

You have helped me and many others find enjoyment through music. Hopefully our contributions can help you and your family with your challenges. May God bless you all.

Donald Wales said...

You have helped me very much with your very informative reviews. I want to thank you for taking the time to do the reviews so that I as a consumer won't have to take the time to research the products myself. I have read your very touching story about Dylan, your grandson.
I wish I had millions to donate to you, but I know when the small amounts are put together, it can hopefully make thousands or millions. May God Bless Dlyan and you and all your family.

Donald Wales

Ernesto Muniz said...

Hi, your blog has been very informative and helpful. I'm wishing you and your loved ones much strength and patience, and pray for Dylan's continued improvement, without setbacks. I've made a small donation via PayPal.

Ernesto Muniz