Luca's Story
Luca Gregory Vassallo was born December 19, 2007. Several weeks after being home with Mommy and Daddy, Luca developed what seemed to be an infection on his nose. Luca was at the hospital for two weeks with no signs of improvement. They knew something was not right. On March 7th, 2008 they were given the heartbreaking news that Luca had a form of leukemia, called Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.
Childhood Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes a large number of abnormal blood cells. According to Luca’s doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, AML is quite rare in infants who are Luca’s age. Less than 20 infants in the U.S. per year are diagnosed with AML.
Luca is now in the Pediatric unit at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center undergoing Chemotherapy. He has made many new friends at Sloan-Kettering, where doctors and nurses are working around the clock to ensure Luca’s recovery. Greg, Manal and Luca have a long road ahead of them. We are hopeful and confident that Luca will reach a full recovery, and will be back home soon.