Robbery beating saves man's life by revealing his leukemia
Michael Forkin’s face was swollen, his body was covered in bruises and he was 20 pounds thinner as he walked through his front door, causing his wife to almost faint at the sight of his condition.
He was attacked in Arizona while en route to Helena from Texas.
It was thanks to this beating that he is still alive.
Had he not gone in for treatment for his injuries, he wouldn’t have been diagnosed with leukemia in time for doctors to stop it from killing him.
“If it wasn’t for the beating that he got, he would have ignored it and would have been dead, he only had a week and a half left to live,” Forkin’s wife, Fran, said. “He was rapidly headed toward death and that beating was a mixed blessing, a blessing in disguise. He had a sore throat and was willing to just ignore it.”
He was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on Oct. 11, 2011. AML is a form of sudden onset leukemia that occurs unexpectedly and can lead to death within five weeks.
By the time Forkin was diagnosed, he was already three weeks in to the five-week timeframe.
On Oct. 10 Forkin saw Michelle Hellwig of Bigfork Family Practice for the injuries he sustained from the beating. She could immediately tell something serious was wrong with Forkin and ran a blood test.
Forkin was taken to Missoula for treatment on Oct. 12 and was immediately scheduled for surgery to implant a Hickman Port in his chest to administer high doses of chemotherapy 24 hours a day for 10 days.
After 10 days a bone marrow biopsy showed the leukemia was not gone, so Forkin was given seven additional days of high dosage chemotherapy.
“It’s terrible stuff, just hideous, his hands turned black because they were burning from the inside out and he lost all of his hair,” Fran said.
The leukemia went into remission after the second round of chemotherapy. However, Fran said doctors found that Forkin has a FLT3 chromosome mutation that essentially guarantees the leukemia will come back.
The only course of action from there was a bone marrow transplant at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital in Salt Lake City. One out of Forkin’s four siblingsTom Forkin, 72, of Bethlaham, Penn. was a perfect match.Tom spent a few weeks in therapy to stimulate stem cell growth for the bone marrow transplant.
“They wanted about 5 million cells, and he came through like a trooper with 8 million cells,” Fran said. “He’s an ex-marine and kept in really good shape.”
Forkin’s bone marrow transplant on Dec. 28 was a success and he is showing improvement. However, he is down to just 137 pounds at 5-foot 10-inches, down from his normal 180 pounds, and is having kidney problems from the post-transplant medication, according to Fran.
The Forkins have to stay in Salt Lake City for 100 days after the transplant for kidney treatment and other procedures. The earliest they can expect to return to Bigfork is April 6.
The side effects from chemotherapy can last three to four months.
The Forkins currently have no income and Fran is uncertain when she can return to work since the amount of care her husband could need remains uncertain.
The Forkins have reached their limit of $3,800 on Wings assistance for lodging and food.
Forkin’s college friend and current equipment manager for the New York Jets, Mike Prior, set up a legal trust fund through Glacier Bank to help the Forkins with their bills. Donations can be made at any Glacier Bank branch location.