Lachie Love needs your help!
Lachie has an extremely rare and aggressive brain tumour. Help us to do everything we can for him in the precious time that we have left.
Auckland
Lachie is 8. He has a sparkle in his eyes & an overflowing personality. He is “big” in every sense of the word – full of energy, love & life.
On December 29, Lachie was diagnosed with a brain tumour that was later confirmed as DIPG. This is about the worst news any parent could hear: DIPG is an extremely rare, aggressive & lethal tumour, with an average life expectancy of less than a year.
https://dipg.org/dipg-facts/what-is-dipg/
Lachie is the son of Liesje & Andy Love & Harry’s big brother. He is a grandson to Emma & Bruce Donkin, grandson to Carole & Michael Love, nephew to Nikki Donkin, James & Erin Donkin, Grant & Philippa Love & John & Josie Love, a cousin, great grandson & friend to many. It is incomprehensible to think of our world without his big smile & big hugs.
The immediate future will be grueling. The financial toll will be huge, as Liesje & Andy are self-employed & can't rely on sick leave or employer support. We hope that this page will mitigate some of the financial stress & allow Lachie to explore all available treatment options, including any clinical trials. At the very least, we want Lachie to tick off some bucket list items while he still can.
We know that people want to help, but there is very little that can be done in a practical sense. If you do want to contribute via this page, then it would be a little something positive for Lachie & his family in the most horrendous of circumstances. Your support is hugely appreciated.
Nikki Donkin's involvement (page creator)
Liesje is my sister, Lachie is my nephew
Use of funds
Any donations will be used to alleviate the financial pressure on Liesje and Andy while they care for Lachie, to pursue all available treatment options, and to give Lachie the best experiences possible while he can still enjoy them.
We have another Givealittle page running for Lachie's bucket-list separately here https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/a-marathon-for-lachie-loves-bucket-list
Latest update
MRI results 5 December 2024
We had our quarterly MRI yesterday and we got the results from quickly. Maybe it was because the Oncologist said he needed to talk to me alone, or that he started with "it isn't good".
The good news is that the tumour doesn’t look significantly different. However, there is a big cyst inside the tumour that has grown between the scans (seems larger than the tumour was at the last scan). They’re not sure about the options now.
The medical team could potentially drain the cyst but this has some risks and often cysts refill again in the future. They could possibly insert a catheter to help with draining if it refills. As it’s a cyst, it won’t respond to radiotherapy or steroids necessarily. It is also unclear what the impact might be for irradiation with the cyst there. And cysts can also become inflamed with radiotherapy.
The cyst can has the same impact as the tumour in terms of pressure on the brain, blood vessels and the system that drains the fluid for the brain (increasing the potential for hydroencephalitis again).
The medical team meet Friday to discuss options but the onc didn’t sound overly confident in any option (although noted that the options weren’t his area).
So we’re now we wait to find out if the back-up option for progression (reirradiation) is an option. In the mean time, we will plan an extra special birthday for Lachie (he turns 10 on the 17th of December) and Christmas (I'm thinking over the top Christmas lights and are welcome to suggestions!).
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