Lucas’ leukaemia battle

My one year old nephew Lucas was diagnosed with leukemia on Sunday 16th August, to say this diagnosis came as a complete shock to us all is an understatement. On 6th August we had celebrated his first birthday and apart from having a cold he appeared a happy and healthy baby celebrating this milestone occasion.

The following week he remained unwell and was admitted to A&E, when some purple coloured spots appeared on his body. Blood tests were run which confirmed both his white blood cell and red blood cell count were extremely low and at this point the dreaded word leukaemia was mentioned along with some other possibilities.Trying to remain optimistic but fearing the worst the 24hrs while waiting for a confirmed diagnosis were long and anxious. When it came back he has leukaemia nothing prepares you for hearing those words. It feels so cruel and unfair that any child should have this diagnosis and have to face the prospect of a fight for survival at such a young age.

He was swiftly transferred to Addenbrookes and further tests were run to determine the type of leukaemia. This is where news went from bad to worse as it was confirmed after many anxious days he has Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). This is harder to treat than the more common form Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) and requires a lengthy hospital stay with multiple chemotherapy sessions. At present around 70 children a year are diagnosed with AML and it has a survival rate of just over 60%.

So far Lucas has already completed his first 10 days of chemo, all in all he will be in hospital for a total of 5 months, not allowed out and having to stay in a tiny room for much of his treatment. For my brother and sister-in-law this also means a 5 month stay in hospital with him, it would be unimaginable to do anything other than stay strong as a family unit together during this time as the only way to get through this situation. However as you can imagine this takes its financial toll, and this is why I’ve set up this funding page so that I can with the power of friends and family help to provide financial support to see them through this difficult time.

If you would like, and are able to make a financial donation however small so that while Lucas is in hospital I can ensure my brother and sister-in-law have the financial burden this brings lessened then it would mean so much.