Nathan
Beth came to CFOH in February 2015 looking for support for her son who was diagnosed with brain cancer at 3 years old. Nathan, now 12, has traveled to and from their home in Kentucky to Duke Children’s Hospital so frequently that at one point the family moved to Durham. Two years ago, after multiple failed interventions, they moved back home to Kentucky and began preparing for hospice. Thankfully, however, they have been able to keep a stable status long enough to get on a clinical trial PBTC-029. The treatment has been a success, giving Nathan 42+% tumor reduction.
The family tried other flight organizations in the past but, at this point, Nathan is not agile enough to climb the wing of a small plane. He also has a wheelchair and other equipment that makes flying very difficult. Beth is a single parent as Nathan’s father passed from cancer in 2012. She is the full-time caregiver for Nathan which considerably limits any ability for outside income. The difficulty, as with many of the families CFOH serves, is that Nathan’s treatment requires monthly visits to Duke, which has proven extremely difficult for Beth to continue.
CFOH commits to the child through the course of their treatment, as our goal is to substantially relieve the burden associated with travel that families like Nathan’s feel.
