Siblings Seek 'Christmas Miracle' For Marine Combat Veteran Brother

CHICAGO — Family and friends are hoping to produce a Christmas miracle for a Marine combat veteran who is undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma due to service-related toxic exposure in Afghanistan.

Paul Stankiewicz, 42, grew up in Mount Greenwood’s St. Christina Parish where many of his siblings and grandfather still reside. Two weeks after he graduated from Brother Rice High School where he played on the football team, Paul enlisted in the Marines and left for basic training. He went on to serve 20 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, from 2000 to 2008, when he was honorably discharged. Paul went on to do government contract in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2008 to 2012

After retiring from the military, Paul, his wife, Lauren, and their three daughters landed in Navasota, Texas, an hour’s drive from Houston, where they purchased an old Victorian home that only had shiplap on the walls. Paul had been installing drywall with plans to start on the tape, mud, floating, sanding and painting, when in July, he was hit with a multiple myeloma diagnosis, a blood cancer that affects the plasma cells.

“He was in a helicopter crash in the Marines and always had back problems so he had learned to live with aches and pain,” said his sister, Sam McElligott, who is organizing “Christmas Miracle for Paul” on GoFundMe.

“In the summer, he came back for a visit. The pain was excruciating and he thought he pulled muscles from weightlifting. We told him to get it checked out.”

>>> GoFundMe: Christmas Miracle for Paul

A CT scan in late July showed lesions all over his bones, like termites eating away at his skeletal system. The doctors told him the disease was aggressive, and he immediately started chemotherapy.

“My brother is the sole breadwinner,” Sam told Patch. “He gets chemo weekly. He’ll be on an oral pill for life.”

Meanwhile, Paul and Lauren’s plans to restore their historic Victorian dream home to its former glory stopped cold, leaving a dusty mess. The doctors in Houston want to do a stem cell transplant using Paul’s own stem cells.

“His bones are extremely fragile resulting in multiple broken bones from doing normal activities,” his sister, Sam, wrote on GoFundMe. “Paul can no longer pick up anything over 20 pounds, and can only stand for short periods. Doing any of these things mentioned puts him in excruciating pain. The current shiplap allows dust and other debris in the house that will be harmful to Paul after his stem cell transplant which is planned for February.”

A team of family and friends have sought out bids from contractors in Texas to finish the renovations on Paul and Lauren’s house.

“We did find two people who are giving Paul a good veterans discount,” Sam said. “The baseline is between $15,000 and $18,000, but you never know what you’re going to run into renovating an old house. The main level is essentially done, but the upstairs where the living quarters are is a hot mess.”

Paul’s recovery from the transplant is expected to take about five weeks. They’re hoping the contractors will be able to complete most of the project when Paul is away rehabbing at a veterans facility. In the meantime, Paul has moved to the main level of the home where he sleeps on a hospital bed. He shelters at home and avoids contact with anyone outside his immediate family. One cold or the flu could push the stem cell transplant back even further.

“We hope it’s successful, but it always comes back,” his sister said. “We’re hoping the stem cell transplant can keep it at bay five years and let medicine catch up.”

Sam said growing up in a single-parent household, her mother relied on Paul, the oldest of five children, to be the man of the house.

“Paul has always been the stoic, strong one,” Sam said. “He’s usually the one volunteering to help someone, so this has been a huge adjustment. He and Lauren didn’t even want us to do a GoFundMe, but they need help. It’s heartbreaking.”

Rather than gather for a big, family Christmas in Mount Greenwood, all of the Stankiewicz siblings – three boys and two girls – will be celebrating quietly with their own families.

“His oncologist recommended that he not be around a lot of people until February for his stem cell transplant,” his sister said.

Numerous studies and reports have suggested links between the poor air quality and rare cancers found in increasing numbers among post-9/11 veterans stationed in the Middle East resulting from exposure to burn pits, according to Military Times. Up until 2010, the military disposed of unexploded ordnance, petroleum products, plastics, rubber, dining facility trash, paint and solvents, and medical waste, including amputated limbs by burning it, without environmental restrictions, in pits. Veterans came home from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering the effects of “plume crud.”

Paul has applied for benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs, his request was denied, as is often the case with first-time applicants. While his type of cancer is on the VA’s list of “presumptive causes” from plume crud, he has to go through an appeals process that could take several months.

“My brother is so positive, you never see him down,” his sister said. “He is determined to beat this thing. He says he’s strong and young. He’s seen and done so much in the military, he says he’s not going to let this thing take him out."

To keep up with Paul's progress or to make a donation, visit Christmas Miracle For Paul.