From West Virginia to Indiana; through robbery and loss; cancer is part of their journey

An Indianapolis couple talks about a cancer diagnosis as a bump in the road of their life travels.

By TJ Banes, IU Health Senior Journalist, tfender1@iuhealth.org

Dustin Honeycutt grew up in the Fountain Square neighborhood during the 80s and 90s when he said he tried to stay on the right path.

“It was a rough neighborhood back then and I stayed focused. I didn’t want to get messed up with the wrong crowd,” said Honeycutt, who turns 40 on August 21. He was raised by his grandparents and a cousin - who was more like a little sister - and mourned the passing of all three.

For the most part, Honeycutt pushed forward through all of life’s challenges. He moved to the Beech Grove area and through many “small world” connections, met his wife. On one of their first meetings, Honeycutt was joined by his best friend who just happened to be his wife’s cousin.

He and Chistyann were married on June 13, 2014, under a full moon at Johnson County Park. His bride wore a traditional white gown, and Honeycutt wore a black suit. The celebration with family and friends continued over two days.

In the years that followed, both Dustin and Christyann completed their GEDs, went to college, and focused on their careers.

At one point in their lives, they were victims of a home robbery. During the incident, Dustin took a bullet through his elbow, straight to his chest. It remains lodged in a place that he said is too risky to remove.

When they had an opportunity to move to West Virginia for a promotion through Dustin’s work, they jumped at the chance. It was September of 2023, and they were exploring a new area together – celebrating an anniversary near New River Gorge National Park and enjoying the chance to expand their lives.

Then everything changed.

In February 2024, Dustin got sick. They thought it was the flu, but he didn’t get better. Two months later he developed a rash that was diagnosed as dermatitis.

“Something just wasn’t right and when he came home looking gray, I had seen that look before when he was shot,” said Christyann. They returned to the hospital near their home and bloodwork confirmed that Dustin has leukemia.

In a social media post he wrote: “I was recently diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) an aggressive bone cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. This came as a shock.”

His career, life and focus took a sudden turn. The couple moved back to Indiana to be closer to family and Dustin began treatments at IU Health Simon Cancer Center. They also set up a GoFundMe Page to help offset expenses. He is in the care of Dr. Rita Assi.

From the start of his treatment, Dustin adopted a boxing theme and the mantra: “I won’t back down.” An uncle crafted keychains depicting boxing gloves and the orange ribbon symbolizing leukemia. The couple also learned all that they could about his diagnosis.

In his hospital room, his chemotherapy pole is draped with plush replicas of platelets, white blood cells and red blood cells. His wife wears a t-shirt that reads: “His fight is my fight.” He posts pictures on social media explaining the process – his blood and plasma transfusions, and his first leukemia consolidated treatment. In total he’s had 19 blood and 10 plasma transfusions. To commemorate his 40^th birthday his wife is planning a blood drive.

“I’ve heard there is a blood shortage, and we know that because people donated blood and plasma, he is alive,” said Christyann.

And as they walk the path together, living with relatives Dustin wakes up each day and says, “I will get through this.”