Team Luke Bradley

Story

One of my best friends in the world is Julie McGee Jaques.  Her six month old grandson Luke is in desperate need of our prayers, and financial support.  Please read Luke's parents story, Ben and Tabby, and prayerfully consider giving!  The Jaques family started in May of 2014 when Ben and Tabby got married. They are high school sweethearts with a love for adventure. In July of 2019, they began their greatest adventure yet with the birth of their beautiful son, Luke. Unexpectedly, on January 26th, Luke, normally a very happy and energetic baby, became lethargic, inconsolable, and refused to eat. They ended up taking their precious boy to the ER where they found his blood sugar to be dangerously low at 23. After multiple attempts to raise his sugar, they were unsuccessful. The ER doctor became worried and decided Luke needed to be taken by ambulance to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Once at CHOA, doctors and nurses immediately worked on him, eventually stabilizing his sugars in the 140s and admitting Luke to the endocrine floor. The next morning Luke began having seizures. He had a total of 6 that day. After an MRI and continuous EEG monitoring, Luke was diagnosed with focal seizures and began Keppra to control them. Since being on Keppra, Luke's seizures, thankfully, seem to be under control. However, after controlling his seizures, Luke's sugars began to drop again. Soon after, the endocrine team diagnosed Luke with hyperinsulinism. This rare condition is the complete opposite of diabetes. His pancreas overproduces insulin which causes persistent low blood sugar. The doctors are unsure of the cause, but genetic testing is pending. After not being able to control his sugar, Luke spent a couple of days in the ICU maxed out on IV dextrose to raise his sugar. Several days ago, he was able to leave the ICU and return to the regular endocrine floor. They have been trying to wean him off of dextrose while giving him the maximum dose of Diazoxide, the main medication used to treat hyperinsulinism. Doctors have been trying to wean him off of dextrose for 6 days now without much success even with adding extra feeds and formula to increase his calories. Nothing is working. He is still dropping into the 40s-50s. Since Luke isn't responding to the medication as hoped, they are now discussing transferring him to Children's Healthcare of Philadelphia (CHOP), the world’s experts in hyperinsulinism. A likely next step there would be to get special PET and CT scans done to determine which surgery he would need, either to remove a small part of, or up to 98% of his pancreas. On top of all of this, Tabby and Ben have missed multiple weeks of work, and while Ben is back at work now, he may miss more if Luke needs surgery. Unfortunately, a large portion of their expenses are not covered under insurance due to the fact that they both just started new jobs. Health Insurance didn't kick in until part-way during their hospital visit, and even when it did, their copays are quite large, as they have a high deductible plan. They could really use some financial help during all of this. They are both independent and don't like asking for help, but know they can't do this alone.For those who are not familiar with medical costs, a couple of examples might help with understanding the magnitude of their expense. An ambulance ride is about $1000. A visit to the ER starts in the hundreds and can grow rapidly, depending on what needs to be done. He had multiple scans and tests during the period in which they were not covered by insurance. For example, he had an MRI for which he had to be anesthetized. The bill for that will include the actual cost of the scan, an additional amount for the anesthesia drug, and more for the services of the anesthesiologist himself. If he is transferred to CHOP, there will be travel expenses, in addition to other specialized and costly diagnostic procedures, and possibly surgery.Luke is such a sweet and happy boy. Most say he is one of the happiest babies they have ever met. All they want is to focus on Luke getting better. Please consider helping even if it is a small amount. A little contribution will go a long way. Thank you and God bless!