Having a baby is supposed to be one of those magical moments in life where the feeling cannot be eclipsed.
As was the case when baby Nash Lexington Luker entered this world on May 20, 2012 bringing incredible, indescribable joy and love to his parents Allison Schneider Luker and her husband Seth Luker.
He was born on the same day of the spectacular and beautiful lunar eclipse. BUT, after his birth it was discovered that he was born with Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), an extremely rare childhood cancer. His case sadly, is even more rare, as there are only a handful of babies ever reported to have been born with RMS.
In the space of two short months, Nash as endured more than most people have to endure in 50 years or their entire lifetimes.
He has already undergone a four-hour long surgery to remove the tumor, only for doctors to discover another tumor, which saw surgeons remove four ribs, part of his diaphragm and part of his chest wall.
RMS is more than 90% sure to come back unless stopped and since MRIs and Cat Scans cannot detect scattered microscopic cells, there are only three ways to combat it: surgery, chemo & radiation.
Due to Nash’s size, weight and age, treatment for RMS is extraordinarily difficult. The hope was that the surgery would have removed all the cancerous cells, but his RMS is just too aggressive.
On July 5, Nash underwent another surgery to install a broviac catheter that will act as the central line to administer chemo directly into his bloodstream and then a day later, he began his chemo treatment – a minimum of 42 weeks of VAC chemo – the only chemo “cocktail” that has ever been given to babies of Nash’s age, size and weight.
Other treatments are available to children with RMS, but not for Nash. He is just too young, too small. Radiation is 100% out of the question. Another surgery targeting his lat muscle is already in discussion for this fall.
To read more about Nash’s brave battle and contribute funds for the rising costs of his treatment, please click here.
We urge everyone to help in any way they can. Even the smallest contributions add up. Give Nash the future he deserves– one of a health and happiness.
What do you think?