
Support Luis' Battle Against Cancer
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Let this Marine rest!
Everyone that knows Luis has a “Luis Story” haha. Luis and my sister Lauren have been together for 15 years. They are true soulmates, best friends and are fiercely dedicated to being the best parents and example of love to their three children. Benjamin, 12. Vivienne, 9. Harrison, 6.
The last few years you will have undoubtedly found them at a baseball or softball field proudly cheering for one of their kids.
If you asked them how they felt about doing the travel ball parent lifestyle they would tell you there is nothing else they would rather do!
As the spring season kicked off this year their world stopped…Luis has cancer.
Luis had a tooth extracted at the end of February 2025. A small spot appeared on his left upper gum a few days later. The dentist kept an eye on it but by the end of March it had grown into a mass. She suggested he have it biopsied and on April 4th they got the call that he has cancer, squamous cell carcinoma.
As many of you know, Luis proudly served this country as a Marine in the 80s.
As a Marine, Luis had spent 3 years stationed at Camp Lejeune. His doctors agree that based on his medical history and healthy lifestyle, this diagnosis is the result of his chronic exposure to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. Even after hearing this, Luis’ loyalty to the Corp hasn’t wavered.
Luis and Lauren met with the specialist the second friday in April and scheduled the big surgery for May 8th. With only a few weeks to process all of this and plan, Luis and Lauren tried to keep everything as normal as possible for the three kids.
On May 8th they removed Luis’ left upper jaw, his entire upper oral cavity to the base of his skull and a portion of his sinus cavity. They did a neck dissection to remove affected lymph nodes and they did a tracheostomy and installed a feeding tube. To reconstruct his jaw and oral cavity they used his leg as a donor site. The reconstruction team used his fibula, soft tissue from his calf, a vein, an artery and 2 skin grafts from his thigh.
8 days in the hospital and 9 days away from the kids, he went home to finish his recovery. His doctors say he needs 3-4 months for his mouth and leg to heal and then if everything in his mouth has fused together they can make a plan to give him new teeth.
In June, Luis will start radiation. He’s still recovering, trying to regain the weight and muscle mass he’s lost so I don’t expect this will be an easy process for him. Unfortunately he will miss seeing Vivienne play at USSSA Nationals because of this treatment plan but he is determined to be well enough to go with Benjamin to Cooperstown at the end of the summer, something he has been looking forward to for months.
Through all of this he has not said a single negative comment or even “ouch”.
Whether he wants to admit it or not his body has been through a lot and still has a long way to go to get back to being the Luis that we all know and love.
Luis is a business owner and it’s hard for him to step away and take this extended time to rest and heal. This is why I am hoping everyone will join me and show our respect and gratitude and LET THIS MARINE REST. His family deserves to have their Super Man back.
Please take the time to read the history of the water contamination at Camp Lejeune.
Organizer and beneficiary
Lea Merrell
Organizer
Baltimore, MD
Lauren Merrell
Beneficiary