We have felt so loved, cared for, and held by our family and friends through this journey. We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and many of you have asked us how you can help. Here are a couple practical ways you can help us directly, or stand alongside us in the fight against blood cancers.
Prayer:
We cherish your prayers for Bo and our family in this season. We will share prayer requests with many of our updates on this site, but if you would like to join our distribution list to receive more regular and specific prayer requests please email lance.chloe.briggs@gmail.com
Financial Assistance:
Many friends and family have inquired about how to make contributions to help support us financially through this season. A close friend has established a gofundme page on our behalf. Donations will be used to supplement our income while taking unpaid family medical leave, any medical expenses not covered by insurance, to cover the costs of living at the hospital through Bo’s treatments, and preparation of our home to make it the cleanest and safest environment possible for Bo during the weeks that we are home.
My employer has also generously created a separate gofundme page specifically for staff and friends of Living Water International.
Several of you have reached out asking if there is anything that would help during our long hospital stays and as we prepare to go home, so we put together an Amazon wish list with some ideas for things that would help to make the hospital stay and the transition back home easier.
Bone Marrow Registry:
Bo will need a bone marrow transplant as part of his treatment, and will be matched with a donor through Be The Match—the largest and most diverse bone marrow registry in the world. The chances of you being matched directly with Bo may be low, but we see this as a practical way our family and friends can stand alongside us in the fight against blood cancers. By joining Be The Match, you could have the opportunity to save the life of someone like Bo.
If you are between the ages of 18 to 44 you can sign up by going to Join.BeTheMatch.org/ForBo. All it takes to join the bone marrow registry is to complete the online survey about your medical history and submit a cheek swab by mail via a kit they send you. About 1 in every 430 members on the registry will have the opportunity to actually donate and save a life one day.
If you join soon, you will be included among those screened as a potential match for Bo. If you are interested in joining the registry please, don’t waste any time! We want as many people in the registry as possible to give Bo and everyone like him the best chance at finding a match.
Chloe and I joined Be The Match together in 2012. If you decide to register please let us know. We’d love to know that Bo’s fight has inspired more people to join Be The Match.
Blood, Platelets, or Plasma:
Bo has already had multiple transfusions of blood and platelets as part of his treatment. A sufficient supply of blood products is critical for hospitals treating many different patients. Our hospital is not able to accept directed blood donations that would go directly to Bo, but like joining the bone marrow registry, we feel this is a practical way you can stand with us to help people like Bo who rely on the availability of blood products from donors like you. When Bo does receive a bone marrow transplant, he will be very dependent on blood transfusions for several weeks, so the need for blood products is great.
If you are interested in blood donation, please contact the Red Cross or a local blood bank near you. If you decide to make a blood donation in honor of Bo, we’d love to hear from you.
