Mother, Father And 17-Year-Old Son Fight Against Three Different Types Of Cancer At The Same Time

Dec 16, 2019 by apost team

Most families can barely imagine dealing with one family member suffering from cancer. This family has every single member battling cancer at the same time.

In 2015, Kathy Desclefs was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. That was bad enough. Then her husband Benoit was diagnosed with a nonoperable brain tumor. Then their son Luke was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at age 17. Troubles come in threes, right?

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"It was too much, especially when it came back down to Luke. It was just too much," Kathy told FOX30.

Each family member has a different type of cancer and a different prognosis. Benoit's brain tumor is untreatable and is slowly progressing; he is expected to live for about 12 more years.

Luke has Hodgkin lymphoma, which usually responds readily to treatment; the five-year survival rate is close to 90% and many cases are cured. However, a small percentage of patients with this condition develop Stage 4 disease that sometimes doesn't respond to treatment. Luke hasn't been fully staged yet and still needs a PET scan to rule out Stage 4 disease.

Kathy has been receiving treatment on and off. She has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is a fairly uncommon disease that comes in two forms, an aggressive form and a slow, indolent form. Her expected prognosis is unclear.

In addition to battling cancer, the family is struggling to run their family business, a restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida. The trips to the hospital for tests and chemotherapy are not only time consuming but also very expensive. They have hired additional help, but finally admitted they need to sell the establishment.

"It’s hard – physically, emotionally – but the prayers help us continue on,” Benoit Desclefs said to FOX30.

If the plight of this afflicted family has moved you, consider forwarding this story to everyone you know. Our hearts go out to this family.