So sorry to have to post this...
"Derek's brave battle ended peacefully at 4:45 this morning. The hope of heaven is cemented in our broken hearts."
~ From Heather Page's FB post this morning
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| Derek Page - from his Uncle Kevin Page |
Derek's uncle, Kevin Page, wrote this note on Facebook recently: "Please reach out to Vincent, Heather, and Kristen with all the love you can muster."
The following is what he wrote this morning.
Derek passed away this morning at about 4:45 am. This ended a five year epic battle with cancer.
When he was diagnosed with Leukemia the first thing Vince and Heather were told was, This is very treatable, his type of Leukemia has about an 80% survival rate.
It went downhill from there. Then they were told, Well, it's the T-cell Leukemia. More like a 20% survival rate. Then they learned that in fact Derek had one of the rarest types of T-cell Leukemia known. About 100 cases in the world.
Then they learned in fact he had TWO forms of cancer: Leukemia AND Lymphoma.
They soldiered on. Derek wanted to live and they wanted him to live. Countless chemotherapy treatments, radiation, bone marrow transplant, spinal taps, and on and on and on.
Meanwhile, science marches on. In the five years Derek was sick, cancer treatment has transformed. Now it's all about genes now. Chemotherapy is now targeted at specific proteins, genes, etc.
Derek was involved in numerous clinical trials and experimental treatments. Without these, he would have been dead years ago.
Saturday I talked to Vince, and there was hope at Stanford. Treatments that have been very successful in adults, but never tried in children. The research doctors at Stanford were willing to take him on as a one-person clinical trial, trying things that had never been done before. At this point, Derek's case had become the very tip of the cutting edge of Leukemia research.
So, Heather and Derek made the trip by ambulance from Loma Linda Children's Hospital to the Louise Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University. After the trip his fever spiked, then the organs started shutting down. His immune system was out of control. Large masses of T-Cells were building up in different places in his body and putting pressure on the organs. It was decided that further treatment was futile and possibly cruel.
They tried. Oh, they so tried.
From Heather Page:
Derek's memorial service will be held on September 10 at 2:30 p.m. at the Azure Hills Church in Grand Terrace, CA. It will be especially for children - all the children who have prayed faithfully for Derek for five years. So don't wonder whether to bring them or not. Do it. The service will be livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person. Details will follow as they are worked out, including where memorial gifts may be made.
