Please help to fund Lucas's ongoing treatment

Many of you who have donated or shared Lucas’s plight will know that initially when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer we were given no hope of recovery and therefore raised money to help us allow Lucas to enjoy life to the full in his short time left with us.

Following publicity from our original GoFundMe requests, we were offered a revolutionary new treatment currently being trialled in America. 

On Monday 13th June we were informed by those conducting the trials in Washington DC that unfortunately, due to the length of Lucas’s radiotherapy treatment, he would no longer be accepted for the groundbreaking treatment offered by the National Children’s Hospital in Washington DC. 

Those of you who have followed Lucas’s story from the beginning will recall a second option of drug treatment, not available within the UK but currently being trialled in Germany. This involves two drugs known as ONC201 and ONC206. In addition to a consultation fee, there will be an ongoing monthly drug cost of around £4,000 together with associated living and care costs which will continue until he either goes into remission or the doctors think the cancer has died. 

After speaking at length with the German Consultant he has agreed to supply the necessary medication and monitor Lucas’s progress. It is anticipated that Lucas will begin this medication imminently. 

We have been recommended to put Lucas on a new food supplement, available from America. This product has been proven to help fight and even reduce the spread of cancer. The first batch has been ordered and the ongoing cost of this supplement alone is £300 per week.

We will therefore continue in our efforts to raise money to fund his ongoing treatment.

Thank you again to everyone for your support and help. Please continue to share Lucas’s story.




To learn more about Lucas’s story continue reading below. Alternatively, follow his recent news via our updates.

Hello, I’m Jamie Bottomley, the proud father of 10 years old Lucas.

 

Towards the end of March this year Lucas started being sick in the mornings for no apparent reason. This continued for about a week and was then followed by dizzy spells and blurred vision. After a number of visits to the doctor, Lucas underwent an MRI scan at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham where we received the harrowing news that he was suffering with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, otherwise known as DIPG.

 

DIPG is a rare form of cancer which, in the main, affects children between the ages of 3 to 9 years. Only 20 to 30 children within the United Kingdom will be diagnosed with DIPG annually. It is a highly aggressive brain tumour located within the brain stem, in an area called the pons, which controls many of the body’s vital functions. Symptoms generally develop rapidly prior to diagnosis and treatment is limited initially to steroids and thereafter radiotherapy. Whilst radiotherapy will often alleviate many of the symptoms and allow an almost magical return to normality for the patient for a month or two, there is no known cure and a zero per cent survival rate, with death usually following within six months.

 

Outward signs of the disease may include severe headaches and nausea, slurred speech, difficulty in swallowing, a drooping to the side of the face (not dissimilar to that of some stroke victims) the inability to maintain balance and odd eye movements.

 

Whilst we are all devastated by the diagnosis, we are determined to not only leave no avenue unexplored in an attempt to search for a cure but also to allow Lucas to enjoy his last days with us, particularly following his radiotherapy when we are told he will appear to dramatically improve for a short period.

 

Lucas is a polite, friendly and outgoing child popular with his friends and has won the hearts of the nurses who look after him during his hospital visits. He loves sport and is particularly keen on his karate classes. Like me, he has a passion for fast cars and we love going to shows and car meets together. One of his favourite toys is his LEGO and he spends hours with family members and friends constructing all manner of things and as any modern young man, he also enjoys playing computer games, in particular Minecraft.

 

I am so proud of my son and have currently given up my job in order that I can spend as much time as I can with him. As a family, we would like to treat Lucas to as many wonderful experiences as we can whilst he is still able to enjoy them, with proposed visits to Legoland in Denmark, Disneyland in Florida and special weekends away. We also want to alert parents to this terrible cancer and push for more research into the condition in the future.

 

We are so grateful for any donation you feel you can give to make young Lucas’s final days with us easier for us all.

 

Finally, thank you for taking the time to read this appeal.