mus
ole
a

Home cancer
treatment
pioneered

- By lan Noble

" News Reporter

| dan@nsnews.com

' AS Lucas Rupert-
Brown bounds down
the stairs in his Deep
Cove home, the

a: improvement is as

- obvious as the hair on
his head.

In March, the News pub-
_ lished a front-page story on
- the - then-five-year-old boy’s

battle with an orange-sized
tumor behind his nose.

His fight included a pio-
;Meering effort for the North
‘Shore that saw Lucas brave
3 cancer treatment at home.
> . Now, however, he looks

B-tike any other heaithy young

lad.

z. On Sept. 18, blood tests, a
‘CT: scan, MRI and other
“medical tests confirmed Lucas

Pais cancer-free.

t' Last week, while rolling on

‘a bed and playing with a litter of kittens delivered by the family
:felirie, Lucas proved to be a man of much action but few words.
i. “Good,” he answered to the obvious question.

’ Lucas, now six, was more expansive about how he felt dur-

‘ing the cancer treatment.
2 4] wasn’t. very happy,” he said.

If this is a way of
: -helping people
‘that want to be at.

home... that’s
onderful because
‘we know it can
work.” |
= Pat Bye,
North Shore Home Support

with a program for synthetic spe
and hear it as he types it.

Although most of the news
coming out of the Rupert-
Brown home these days is pos-
itive, the cancer has robbed
Lucas of all sight in one eye
and most of the sight in the
other. ,

It has also weakened his
immune system.

However, with the help of
modern technology, he’s been
able to keep up with his Grade
1 peers, said his parents
Sharen and James.

A device that looks iike a TV
and works sort of like an over-
head projector allows Lucas to
increase the size of letters so
he can read them.

In addition, using, a computer
ch, Lucas can type in a letter

Sharen raised $17,000 for the equipment, with some of the

‘ash coming from Make A Wish.
. Meanwhile, the Lucas-Brown

family is very happy with the

Bway the home treatments went for Lucas.

[E following is a brief
mmary of the council
neetings agendas for North
hore municipalities.

West Vancouver District
ouncii: Monday, Oct. 6,
:45 p.m. :

B Development permit appli-
ation, 2288 Bellevue Ave.,

-unit, 15-storey highrise
bartment building; zoning

Pama iaw 2200, 1968, No. 4070,

i

> rezone from restricted com-
ercial to commercial zone 5

*# 1890 Marine Dr.; delega-
mons — S. Krugel on proposed
icrowave tower on Madrona
escent water tank, P. Miller
Park Royal expansion; Park
pyal expansion, traftic implt-

cations; development permit
application No. 97-11 (2288
Bellevue Ave.); development
variance permit application
No. 97-19 (6565 Marine Dr.);
3912 Marine Dr., foreshore
encroachment; rick breaking
permit (3285 Dickinson
Crescent).

North Vancouver District
Council: Monday, Oct. 6, 7
p.m.

Delegation, B.C. Transit on
North Vancouver bus service,
DFO on fishing in recreational
and commercial areas;
Riverside Drive, 40 km/h trial
speed limit; firearm regulation
bylaw; North Vancouver com-
munity heritage commission
bylaw; relaxation of noise reg-
ulation bylaw, Raven Woods;
nuisance abarement at 3072
Sunnyhurst Rd.; conflict of
interest. bylaw; Sevmour
Demonstration Forest; bylaw
6968, rezoning bylaw 1077,
Windridge Ice Arena.

North Vancouver City
Council: Monday, Oct. 6, 6
pn.

Proclamations, Fire
Prevention Wee (Oct. 5-11),
Fire Service Recognition Day

BR

“It was a dream. It went

woe » . aA
en rr 2 oe oe eat te, fe

Sunday, October 5, 1997 — North Shore News — 14

| Deep Cove lad recovers with love, help

LUCAS Rupert-
Brown is cancer-
free thanks to a
loving and supportive
family, community
and medical team.
Earlier this year, in
March, the situation
tooked pretty grim.
A program of home
hydration therapy
went far to help turn
things around.
Children’s Hospital,
North Shore Health
and North Shore
Home Support
teamed up to bring
the treatment to
Lucas at home.
Lucas (left) is joined
by friend Brittni.
Below, Lucas at home
in March.

very smoothly,” said Sharen. “No

glitches whatsoever.”

In March, Sharen told the News
she didn’t want Lucas staying at
Children’s Hospital after receiving
his chemotherapy treatments. Lucas,

she said, was put in a room with
three other chiidren trying to battle
chemotherapy’s nauseating effects
for at least 24 hours.

The experience left Sharen and
Lucas stressed and exhausted.

So the family asked if Lucas could
go home immediately after the
chemotherapy treatments, believing
that would reduce stress and lead to
a shorter recovery time.

On Feb. 6, Lucas received his
first “home hydration” treatment.
With a nurse at his side monitoring
him for temperature, blood pressure
and vital signs, he flushed the corro-
sive cancer-fighting agents from his body.

iy Although Byrne said the hope is that others wanting similar
Occasicnally, he leaned over the side of the bed and vomit-

‘at-home care can get it, she’s not certain that will happen
because of the many changes health care is undergoing.

She added, however, that a goal for those changes is to give
people their choice of setting when they are sick.

“If this is a way of helping people that want to be at home
for this kind of treatment, well, that’s wonderful because we
know it can work,” he said.

ed.
Pat Byrne, North Shure Home Support coordinator of nurs-
ing and education, said the home hydration went well.

She said a for of work went into coordinating Lucas’ home
support between Children’s Hospital, North Shore Health and
North Shore Home Support “but it was worth it because it real-
ly did make a difference.”

(Oct. 11), National Family
Week (Oct. 6-12); delegations,
Brian Dorward, 745 Grand
Blvd.; reconsideration and final
adoption Smoking Regulation
Bylaw 1997, No. 6876, Fees
and Charges Bylaw, 1993, No.
6383, amendment _ bylaw,
1997, No. 6848 (engineering
fees and charges); amendments
to per diem allowance and
casual mileage rates; permissive
taxation exemption; Low Level
Road East Bikeway; appoint-
ment of property use inspec-
tor; funding of the North
Shore Childcare Resource
Sociery; Voluntary guidelines
for child care facilities in com-
mercial and industrial zones;
Neighborhood pub applica-
tion — 850 Marine Dr; pro-
posed mixed use, affordable
housing develupnment, 121-
133 Wess Lith St, Royal
Canadian Legion No. 118/Bel
Tar Holdings Led.: oroposed
parking revision, 23d bell Ave.;
OCP amendment, rezoning
application revised option 980-
998 Marine Dr. rezoning
application, 155-165 West
23rd St.; destination and addi-
tional charitable gaming facili-
ties, request for proposals.

— Michael Recker

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