Michigan Couple Moves Up Their Wedding After Being Diagnosed With Cancer Just Days Apart

Clay Slenk and Mariah Nelesen are a couple from Michigan, who met when they were both in high school and it was at that moment that they discovered that they were made for each other and that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.

After several years of relationship, they finally got engaged in marriage at the end of 2020 and had planned that their wedding would take place in June 2022.

However, their plans took an unexpected turn when in the first days of that year, the girlfriend was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and only 8 days later he was informed that she had leukemia.

“I received a phone call on 11 in January of this year and found out I had ovarian cancer. That is not a call that anyone expects to receive, ”said Nelesen, of 23 years, in an interview with KTLA.

Just a week later, Slenk, 24 years old, who had recently undergoing a blood test due to what he thought were persistent symptoms of pneumonia, he received a call from his own doctor. “All of a sudden, I got a phone call and my doctor said, ‘I want you to go to Spectrum right now. I think you have leukemia,’” he recalled.

Slenk’s diagnosis with acute myeloid leukemia required immediate hospitalization, according to the couple’s GoFundMe, which notes that doctors determined he should remain hospitalized “while analyzing the best options”.

While Slenk spent the following 40 days in the hospital, Nelesen began the process of freezing her eggs and exploring her own cancer treatment options, according to KTLA.

However, instead of spending her energy angered by the situation , the couple focused on their time together and their plans for the future.