Please Help Luke Rochefort

Dear friends,

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Marie-Claude Bourgeois, Luke Rochefort’s fiancé. As some of you might already know, Luke has been hospitalized with what doctors cannot yet diagnose but believe to be a rare medical condition called Hashimoto Encephalopathy (auto-immune and encephalitis). This neurological disorder characterized by loss of ability to execute skills, movements and gestures is called Apraxia.

On the early morning of September 27, 2021 Luke had a seizure at home and was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. By the time he arrived at the General Hospital, Luke had lost his vision and was so confused that he could not remember his loved ones or his own name. In the days that followed, doctors administered tests after tests. Luke was vomiting and in excruciating pain but doctors had difficulty comprehending what was happening to Luke because he was unable to communicate or express his pain and thoughts. Patients who have seizures typically recover after 48 hours, so when that time came and went without improvement, doctors transferred him to the Neurology Department at the Civic Hospital. Due to Luke’s past medical history of testicular cancer, brain cancer, avascular necrosis and type 1 diabetes (from chemo) his brain is vulnerable. After another two seizures, tests revealed impairment to the left side of his brain affecting his analytical, language, number, reasoning, reading, writing and comprehension abilities.

The last month has been filled with a labyrinth of doctors, numerous tests, invasive procedures, and substantial emotional upheaval.

As of today, doctors still cannot come up with a firm diagnosis. Luke is responding well enough to treatment to go back home while we wait to be called for further tests to check for diseases and cancer. More research is needed to cure this extremely rare condition. Some aspects of Luke’s condition have started to improve (eyesight and speech) but other aspects remain to be rehabilitated. Therapy will be essential to help him regain independence.

Luke is facing a lot of uncertainty and has only just begun his journey in living with a neurological disorder. His plan for recovery includes speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, seizure and steroid medication as well as Rituximad (an auto-immune suppressant) to aggressively treat Luke’s condition.

Due to Covid, the Acquired Brain Injury Program will not accept new patients until the New Year which leaves us having to explore privately run rehabilitation centres.

We appreciate all the support we’ve received so far. The beautiful messages, the food, the help with Murray and the visits. We could not have survived this without our family and friends.

We are reaching out to our community to help us cover some of the costs beyond insurance coverage to get Luke to start treatment immediately after discharge. Any donation would be so helpful. Thank you all so much from the bottom of our hearts.