Family could use help finishing home for cancer survivor

Hungry Horse News

The Hanson family could use just a little boost to get over a tough hump in what has already been a tough few years.

See, their son Alex battled his way through leukemia, going through a bone marrow transplant. It cured him of that affliction, but doctors suspect it may have caused another.

A four-day doctor visit in May has resulted in a six-month stay in a Seattle hospital.

Because now Alex has a cancer that only older people in their late 60s and 70s get. He has B cell MALT lymphoma, a form of cancer in his lungs.

There is no cure.

And Alex is the only known case of a child at his age to contract the disease.

But Alex is a trooper, says his mom, Kathy. He's currently in remission and his spirits are high. He's feeling pretty good right now and is looking forward to coming home to Columbia Falls and going back to high school here next week.

He's been out of school for the last three years battling disease. He just wants a normal life. He's a freshman this year, and at age 15 he just wants to hang out with his friends, Kathy said.

But there's just one hitch.

Alex's home isn't quite ready for him.

Because Alex is in a wheelchair, the Hansons decided to build a new home on Martini Lane that could handle wheelchairs. They sold their old house this summer and are in the process of building a new house.

But Alex's dad Jim is a Kalispell police officer. He's doing a lot of the finish work himself to save money. But between working nights for the police force and working days on the house, he's not quite finished.

Kathy says the sheetrock just needs some finish taping and mudding and they could move in.

In short, they need help with the house, Kathy says. Just a little.

A volunteer crew for a few days could finish it up. Another alternative is to stay at a hotel while the Hansons finish the home, but that's expensive, and hotels have to be nit-picking clean to house a young man with cancer because of the threat of infection.

Normally, the family lives in a fifth-wheel trailer outside the unfinished home.

But that's too cold to live in during the winter. Alex requires a special oxygen set-up to breathe at night.

Alex's doctor bills run $300,000 a month. Insurance covers most of it, but just having Kathy living in Seattle with Alex is draining what little they made on the sale of their old home.

Medication alone, for example, costs $5,000 a month.

Doctors aren't sure what lies in Alex's future, Kathy says.

"We just put our faith in God," she said.

If you think you might be able to help, Kathy Hanson can be reached at 250-1170 or at alexsmom89@hotmail.com.