Christian Luna

Christian & Rebecca Need Your Help

Christian Luna has been hospitalized since February with tuberculosis (TB) and has several months of recovery ahead of him. Christian has a loving wife, Rebecca Wortman Luna, and a 3-year-old son, Gabriel Luna.

During this time, Rebecca has taken Family Medical Leave to deal with the crisis. Family Medical Leave provides job protection, but does not replace any lost wages. Rebecca and Christian are blessed to have good medical care, but his treatment has been complicated (please see additional details below), and Rebecca has been staying days and nights at Christian's side in the hospital to ensure that he receives the best care possible. 

Gabriel has been very scared that his father suddenly went away.  When his mom takes him anywhere, he asks if she's going to leave him. For these reasons, Rebecca's greatest wish is to keep Gabriel home with her while she also supports Christian in the hospital.  

These funds will be used to help cover child care expenses, as well as all of the many additional expenses this family will incur both now and when Christian, God willing, comes home from the hospital.

Please show your love for Rebecca, Christian, and Gabriel by giving what you can. Every donation, no matter how small,  makes a difference! And THANK YOU for all of your continued prayers and good wishes for Christian's full recovery.

Please also share and help spread the word!

Warmest regards,

Christian and Rebecca's friends and family 

Please see link for more information about TB, including groups most affected and risk factors


*****************

Additional Information about Christian's medical treatment:

Christian Luna has been hospitalized under quarantine for TB (tuberculosis) since February 24, 2019.

On Saturday, April 6th, he almost died from a pulmonary hemorrhage. Since then, he has been in and out of the ICU. The current plan is to wait for the medications to impact the TB and stop its progression. At this point the TB has spread to all lobes of his lungs, and the upper left lobe may require surgical removal.

Christian is being treated in St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ.

The prognosis for his recovery from TB is estimated at 2 weeks to 6 months in-hospital treatment. After release from the hospital, Christian will need time to recover his strength as he continues antibiotic treatment for several months.

Chris had been exposed to TB years ago in the Philippines. The bacteria lay dormant until his immunity got too low to withstand it, due to his diabetes. 

For most people who are exposed, the body fights the bacteria and coats the bacteria so that it can't impact the body. Those people have "latent" TB, meaning it is not active and can't be passed on to others. For latent carriers, a positive TB skin test would be followed by a negative chest x-ray.

It's possible for the latent TB bacteria to become reactivated. This is what happened to Christian.

Infectious disease specialists recommend that ANYONE who has latent TB should follow treatment to eradicate it. This is especially important for DIABETICS. 

Apparently, anyone who has been exposed to TB (latent carriers) should be advised to take medication to decrease the possibility of its reactivation. We did not know that until now.

It turns out that the danger of latent TB becoming re-activated is especially great for those with diabetes, who are 6 times more likely to develop active TB once exposed.

The Lattimore Institute in Newark, NJ is a non-profit TB clinic. 

***Please, if you have a positive skin test for TB, ask your doctor for referral to treatment to eradicate it. Latent TB is not contagious, but it can morph into active TB. Active TB is highly contagious. You don't want this to happen to yourself or anyone you love.***

Rebecca and Gabriel have undergone multiple tests and are confirmed as negative for TB (another miracle). Gabriel is also being treated prophylactically to prevent its development, since as a 3 year old he  is in the high risk under-5 age group.

*****************

Additional background about the Luna family:

Christian grew up in the Philippines, where he was educated at Don Bosco and at the University of Santo Tomas. He came to the U.S. in 2003, and has been an orthopedic physical therapist for 16 years. He is known by friends colleagues alike as the Most Interesting Man in the World for his encyclopedic knowledge, polyglotism, sense of humor, and dramatic storytelling abilities.

Rebecca grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She was active in the Heights Choir as an Alto section leader, and danced with the Primavera Dance Co. She attended Washington University in St. Louis and graduated from NYU, and was a professional dancer and choreographer for 10 years before segueing into the business world, where she has a career in regulatory technology program governance in the finance/risk space.

They met through their love of salsa dancing at Club Iguana in NYC. In December 2015, they gave birth to a beautiful and long-awaited son who is the light of their lives. They enjoy spending time with friends and in nature (Christian is an avid shore fisherman), and had just started going out dancing again before this tsunami came into their lives.

The extended family live in in the Philippines (Christian's side) and the west coast (Rebecca's side).