A benefit to support Eric Heithoff and his family will be held Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Elgin from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Eric, a husband and father, as well as the music teacher at Elgin High, was recently diagnosed with acute leukemia and is currently undergoing treatment in Omaha.
The benefit will include a pulled pork sandwich meal. There will also be a silent auction.
All proceeds will be donated to the family to help with medical bills and expenses.
Anyone wishing to contribute an auction item or anyone unable to attend, but would like to contribute can contact Marissa Lemke at (402) 260-0001.
Eric is the son of Terry and Rhonda Heithoff and grandson of Darlene and the late Louie Heithoff of Elgin.
Medical condition update
Eric gave friends a medical update Monday on his Facebook page:
“Things are going about as well as can be expected. The docs had told me that its usually the week after chemo that a lot of the effects take their toll, and they’re right. I can definitely tell a difference in my endurance level this week compared to last week.”
He then described his symptoms and the process that put him in the hospital and, hopefully, can help someone in the future.
“This last summer, the main symptom that I had was fatigue. I was always tired. We were busy helping Brian with his 4H projects and doing the normal summer stuff, so I didn’t think anything of it. Another thing that I had no clue was a symptom (but do now), is I was having problems with my gums. They were almost constantly sore, even with brushing and mouthwashing multiple times a day. Some days were worse than others, but the general gum soreness didn’t go away. I just thought I wasn’t brushing and flossing well enough.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back though, was when my lips went pale for a week after a bout with what we think was a stomach bug. We noticed it the night of my cousin’s graduation party. That is what ultimately led me to go see a doctor and get some blood tests done.
“The blood tests showed what is called pancytopenia. Essentially, my red cells, white cells, and platelets were at half of normal levels. Your average male is going to have a hemoglobin level between 14 and 17. Mine were at 8. Normal platelets are usually in the 125,000 range, mine 60,000. And the kicker was the white cell count. Normal is above 4, mine was at 3.2. This, along with a high uric acid count in my blood started ringing alarm bells. We were hoping that it was just something viral and would work itself out. I tested positive for Epstein-Barr, which causes mono, and can also cause pancytopenia.
But, the doctors wanted to do a bone marrow biopsy based on the high uric acid and a couple other factors. In a bone marrow biopsy, they look for multiple things, but the main determination for cancer is in what’s called the blast count. Basically, your stem cells in the marrow can become any of the needed blood cells, but before they do they change into blasts- and that’s where things can get wonky. A normal person will have up to 2 percent of the cells in the marrow as blasts, and that can be extended up to 5% and still be considered ok. My first bone marrow biopsy came back at 8% blasts, which gave us a temporary diagnosis of MDS, or what used to be called pre-leukemia. That biopsy did not cover all the bases though, and it was recommended to do a second.
The second biopsy showed a much clearer picture, and a blast percentage of 25 percent. Anything over 20% is leukemia. The good news, is, it doesn’t matter if your blast percentage is 25% or 80%, its all treated the same. I also have a genetic mutation of the FLT-3 gene. But, good news there, they have a medication for that called Rydapt that I’m currently taking. My official diagnosis is Acute Myloid Leukemia or AML.”
He went on to said another bone morrow biopsy will be done today (Wednesday) to see how the chemo did.
“Thank you everyone for your love, prayers, help, and support. People have been coming out of the woodwork, and it makes it easier being down here in Omaha knowing that everything is going well back home.”
