Gilby's Fight - Help Lucas fight Severe Aplastic Anemia

My name is Cindy Lewis. I'm a long time friend of Michele and Matt Gilby, Lucas's parents and I have started this go fund me, with their permission. Please read full story below, to see where your money will go.

Everyone Meet Lucas a courageous young man, bravely battling a very scary diagnosis.

Here is his story:

On June 19th, 2024 his Mom and Dad took Lucas to the IWK because he had some concerning rash like bruising on his legs. They discovered that he had Bone Marrow Failure and testing began to figure out the cause of the failure as he had no other symptoms.

After a very long, stressful, scary 2 months, several hospital stays and countless trips to the Bone Marrow Clinic at the IWK (they were going twice a week to check his blood cell counts and have transfusions) They finally had a diagnosis.

Lucas has been diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia.

What is Severe Aplastic Anemia? It means your bone marrow is not functioning.

Our bone marrow is basically the factory where our blood cells are created and Lucas's isn't working so the family is currently (and has been for the last 5 months) depending on blood transfusions 1-2 times every week to keep Lucas alive. These Treatments are given at the IWK, approximately 1 hour from the family home.

It took 2 months to get a solid diagnosis and then they started the first phase of treatment which included having a picc line put in, some inpatient treatments and a plethora of oral medications.

They are now just over 3 months into the first plan of action and unfortunately it has not yielded the results that they and the doctors were hoping for. They have not yet seen any movement in Lucas’ bone marrow function so doctors have shifted to plan B which is Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT).

The IWK does not do BM transplants, which means the family will have to go to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto for this to be done and it is a 4 month process so they basically have to move to Toronto for 4 months - leaving their home and family, including their beloved dog behind for others to care for.

The plan currently is for this to happen in the beginning of the new year (Jan/Feb ish).

They are hopeful that with a plan to move forward they may soon begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel as this has been a very long & draining process for all of them, especially Lucas.

So as the family is preparing to move for 4 months, we are hoping to be able to raise some funds to help them out so their bills do not pile up as Mom/Dad will have to be by his side and unable to work.

If you would like to donate to the family directly, can etransfer them at [email redacted]

We have set a goal to raise $20,000-25,000 for them. As we all know, bills don't stop coming just because life has thrown you a curveball. The money raised will take an immense amount of pressure of the entire Gilby family.

Thank you all in advance for your support.