‘Happy kid’ and a shock diagnosis
Te Anau toddler begins months of cancer treatment with 50:50 chance of survival
Four weeks ago, Te Anau toddler Luka Pascoe started to limp.
Two weeks later, 18-monthold Luka was diagnosed with cancer and started a first round of chemotherapy on Monday.
His parents, Katelyn and Toby Pascoe, were told Luka had high-risk, stage-three neuroblastoma that had spread through his body. He had a 50:50 chance of living.
‘‘Probably four weeks ago, he started to have a limp and struggled to walk . . . Then over another week it progressed to not being able to walk at all,’’ Toby said.
After a couple of days of tests at Southland Hospital over Easter, it was revealed Luka had a tumour in his stomach that was attached to his kidneys.
‘‘They found the main tumour and then once he had a CT scan and further tests in Christchurch, they found tumours in both legs and his bone marrow . . . So it’s spread throughout the lower part of his body,’’ Toby said.
Little Luka had a minimum of 14 months of treatment, possibly longer, and is currently being treated at Ronald McDonald House in Christchurch.
The doctors told the family that if Luka were an adult with this diagnosis, he would have been shifted straight to palliative care and that there would be no treatment, Toby said.
The couple have been feeling heartbroken about the shocking diagnosis. ‘‘We’ve done a lot of research since then, and about 150 children each year in New Zealand get diagnosed with cancer . . . so one every second day,’’ Toby said.
The parents have started an online blog called Luka’s Journal to trace his journey with cancer because they believe it could help other parents as well as show Luka what he had gone through in the future.
‘‘The reason for the journal is so that if he does get through this, he can look back as he grows up. Because the consequences of chemotherapy are not just vomiting or shortterm consequences . . . There are a lot of long-term consequences that are quite severe,’’ Toby said.
Dozens of parents from Aotearoa and overseas have reached out to the Pascoes.
Luka is known to be a happy little guy with a bit of an adventurous streak.
Toby and Katelyn are an active pair and Luka joined them in hiking small parts of the Routeburn and Kepler tracks.
‘‘He just loves being outdoors, going on a kayak, going on a jet ski, going on the boat,’’ Toby said. ‘‘He loves daycare . . . and he loves being out with his friends and meeting new people.
‘‘He’s won over the doctors and nurses at the hospital – he loves giving them high fives and fist bumps . . . He’s just an absolute . . . happy kid.’’
A GoFundMe webpage has been set up by a family member in Canada, and on June 11 a fundraiser will be held at the Invercargill Workingmen’s Club to help with medical costs and the cost of travel between Te Anau and Christchurch.