Big fight for Lil' Wayne: 4-year-old battles rare type of lung cancer
Friday, August 22, 20081 comment(s) | Default | Large
What do you do when the American Dream turns into a nightmare?
Rosinville couple Wayne and Milvia Rabon found that you cling to prayer and the support of family and community. Their faith was tested in the most unlikely of ways when one of their beloved children became ill with cancer.
The Rabons are the parents of 4-year-old Alberto Wayne “Lil’ Wayne” Rabon and 2-year-old Alexis.
Lil’ Wayne is a typical child, proudly graduating from Smartie Pants Preschool and developing a fascination with the “Cars” and “Transformers” movies, along with “The Hulk.”
The Rabons’ dream of a healthy, happy family began to unravel when Lil’ Wayne began complaining about chest pains. His parents took him to the doctor, who was puzzled by the lack of any mucous or sign upper respiratory infection.
Then, Lil’ Wayne found it hard to breathe and began running a fever one night before being taken to a nearby hospital’s emergency room. The hospital sent the child home and his symptoms began to worsen over the next several days.
Lil’ Wayne’s fever shot to 105 degrees, and neither a dose of Motrin, nor a cold shower would help. After being rushed to the hospital, he was misdiagnosed with pneumonia. The pneumonia treatment did nothing to lessen Lil’ Wayne’s breathing woes, so he was eventually taken to Summerville Medical Center.
The on-call physician sent the family to the Medical University of South Carolina, where doctors ordered a CT scan and found a softball-sized tumor in the 4-year-old’s right lung. The doctor listened to the lung, but found that the excessively large mass was rendering it silent. The tumor was like a thick wall that allowed no air in or out.
“It was a malignant tumor,” said Letty Rodriguez, Lil’ Wayne’s maternal grandmother.
“We were all praying that it would be benign. The doctor discussed the possibility of removing that lung, and then they ran another test ... to see if it was in the bones, brain or blood. That came back clear. That was the best thing that could have happened,” Rodriguez said.
That was the beginning of a long procession of medical procedures. The doctor ordered him to be hospitalized immediately. Within a few days of trying to stabilize the child’s breathing, the doctor ordered a biopsy of the mass. The tumor was specifically determined to be pleuropulmonary blastoma type II, or PPB, which is a very rare form of lung cancer.
PPB is a kind of cancer that is very different from the kind of lung cancer that occurs in adults. It happens when a group of abnormal cells evolves into a cancerous mass. Unfortunately, the cause of PPB is not known. As with most childhood cancers, PPB cases appear unexpectedly.
“Every three weeks he returns back for in-hospital aggressive chemotherapy, which is down through a portocath that was installed the same day of the biopsy because the oncologist really suspected it (the tumor) was malignant,” said Rodriguez, who said his mother also gives Lil’ Wayne daily injections of medicine to control his nausea.
Rodriguez said her grandson has lost his hair and will eventually have to undergo surgery to remove his right lung, but he’s taking his treatment in stride despite getting mean and aggravated at times with the nurses.
Big fight for Lil' Wayne Four-year-old Alberto Wayne “Lil’ Wayne” Rabon is battling a rare form of lung cancer called Pleuropulmonary Blastoma Type II. He receives care at the Medical University in Charleston. A fundraiser is being held to offset the escalating medical bills of his parents, Wayne and Milvia Rabon of Rosinville. The fundraiser will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 23 at the Indian Field Fire Department with a yard sale and include a bake sale, car wash and the sale of $6 chicken dinner plates. An account has also been set up at the Bank of America at 1325 St. Matthews Road, Orangeburg SC 29115. Checks can be made payable to “The Alberto Wayne Rabon Medical Fund Account.” |
“He’s handling it in stride. I guess an adult knows all the risks and outcomes and how things can go bad. He doesn’t see that. Like with anything like this, everyone was falling apart in the beginning. We cried and were just scared. None of us had ever experienced anything like this,” Rodriguez said.
“We’re learning a lot. You can’t sit and reflect on how bad and terrible it is because that’s not changing anything. You have just to reflect on what doing what the doctor tells you to do. It’s a long road,” she said.
Last week, Little Wayne underwent his fourth severe chemotherapy treatment. Having lost most of his dark black hair, he wears a “Cars” character cap.
His family tries to carry on life as normally as possible. Wayne and Milvia know that their son must undergo five more weeks of treatment. Then, doctors at MUSC will try to remove the somewhat shrunken mass. If doctors can not entirely remove it, they may have to remove Lil’ Wayne’s right lung.
The upper Dorchester County community is working to help the Rabons offset escalating hospital bills with a benefit fund-raiser beginning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday with a yard sale at the Indian Field Fire Department. A bake sale and car wash will also be held. Donations will also be accepted.
Anyone interested in donating an items for the yard sale or bake sale or purchasing a ticket for a chicken dinner can call Teresa Hatchell at 843-563-4175; Lance Hatchell at 843-560-2074 or Charlene Chavis at 843-560-2315. Other contact numbers include 843-384-2892 and 803-759-0140.
The Indian Field Fire Department is located at of the intersection of U.S. Highway 15 and U.S. Highway 178. Contact the department by phone at 843-563-8125.
T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton contributed to this report.
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pedingsgang wrote on Aug 23, 2008 6:59 AM: