Brain Surgery for Luciano

Luciano Galaz was born with what the doctors thought was trauma lesion from birth since his left arm was less mobile than the right. They thought a nerve had been damaged in his neck area during delivery. As he turned 1 and started wanting to crawl, the weakness of the limbs on the left side of his body became more apparent. He started physical therapy and was given a brace for his left foot to help him stabilize while learning to walk. At this point his parents noticed he was having moments of “spacing out” accompanied by extreme tiredness. With further testing Luciano was diagnosed with Epilepsy. Since his diagnosis at age 2 he has been in treatment, taking up to 5 different medications to ease the episodes. After 4 years of testing and adjusting medications to see more improvement, it was determined by his doctors that his Epilepsy is not responding to treatment. He was diagnosed with a Drug-Resistant Epilepsy or Refractory Epilepsy. His pediatric doctors along with the neurosurgeon have determined that the only way for Luciano to have a chance of having a normal life is brain surgery.

Luciano is an active boy that loves Spiderman and eating sushi. He best loves to go to the beach and play in the sand and jump in the waves with my brother. This epilepsy he has had to live with is stifling his enjoyment of life. This surgery is his only recourse.

The surgery is costly and has a minimum of 2 weeks post-operative time in the ICU unit of the hospital. Luciano’s recovery will be long and require multiple kinds of therapy. Luciano’s parents are Ignacio Galaz, my brother, who works in a garden center, and Daniela Aravena a high school English teacher. Even with Daniela’s insurance covering a portion of the surgery, the expenses are more than they can sustain. We are coming together as a family to help with everything we can and are asking at this time for your kind support to help them in this difficult time.

Luciano’s surgery is scheduled in a month. I will be traveling to Chile to be with my family during this time. I will deliver the funds collected directly to them and will update you on Luciano’s situation.