An Important Update
Hi everyone,
As many of you know, this past year has been a difficult one for Francis, and for Adeline, Félix, Oscar, and little Zella. After being diagnosed last fall with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL), Francis had surgery and began chemotherapy. The family then needed to relocate from Seattle to Vancouver for Francis to receive a stem cell transplant in May. There was a very long and very difficult period of recovery in hospital, away from Adeline and the kids, followed by the very happy announcement of remission after 100 days. Many of you sent messages of support through all of these times and they meant so much to Francis and Adeline.
There is no good way to say this; unfortunately, this message is coming today to let you know that their happiness has been short-lived. Over the last few weeks, the cancer has returned aggressively and the only option remaining is to return to the US for further chemo treatment that isn't available in Canada, in the hopes of a possible clinical trial that will involve a second stem cell transplant. This is quite honestly a hail mary, in the hopes of giving Francis far more than the couple of months he will otherwise have left with his wife and three amazing children.
Francis and Adeline wish that the Covid situation were different and that they could be spending time with family and friends who mean so much to them. Since that is not possible in so many instances, they are asking for any messages, voice messages, videos, etc. to Francis to be posted on this kudoboard. It’s been a comfort to Francis to be able to look at them and read them when he has moments to do so. Please keep your messages positive and uplifting and feel free to share stories, memories or photos.
With all the love in their hearts, Francis and Adeline ask you to please understand that they may not have the time or energy to respond to all messages as they spend time as a family and deal with all the new implications that this news brings. To put it very simply - they do not have the bandwidth to console well-wishers at this moment and so we ask that you lean on those around you for support or be in touch with us, so that Francis and Adeline can focus their energy where it’s most needed. However, your thoughts and words and support are so deeply appreciated.
Many of you have asked how you can help to pay for a meal or assist in other (monetary) ways, so we’ve provided some very important information on the family’s GoFundMe on the How to Help page.
A very tearful thank you and big, heartfelt hugs to everyone for your continued support. We will do our best to provide updates on Francis’ condition and to let you know if there is anything that the family needs. Please feel free to bookmark this website or set yourself up to receive notifications.