Luke’s Legion was formed to help promote awareness and raise funds for pediatric cancer. It’s named after Luke Guerrero (pictured right), a leukemia survivor. His cancer journey began early March 2013 when his parents noticed that their generally energetic 3 1/2 year old little boy, Luke, was unusually lethargic. At the park, rather than climbing up the slide and jumping on the play structure Luke opted to lie down on a bench, completely out of character. He also began to look very pale. Luke’s mother’s intuition kicked in and they called the pediatrician and made an appointment.

It was two days before they went in and Luke began running a fever. At the appointment, the pediatrician sent Luke to the hospital for blood work and by the time he got home, the phone rang. Luke’s blood work suggested Leukemia. They packed a hospital bag and drove down to TCH, having no idea what was going on or what to expect.

Luke was seen right away and a whirlwind of blood tests and physical exams ensued. Within a few hours the pediatrician’s diagnosis was confirmed. Luke had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). By Monday morning, Dr. Judith Margolin and her team were ready to sit down to explain everything they knew about Luke’s illness and how they planned to cure it.

Dr. Margolin encouraged Luke and his family to remain strong and optimistic, as Leukemia is a curable disease. Luke began treatment right away, and was in full remission within 28 days! The chemotherapy worked to kill the cancer, however, it damaged many of his organs. Luke suffered significant liver and pancreatic damage. Luke turned out to be a rare case in terms of his response to chemo, as there were numerous side effects he suffered that they’d never seen before. The staff at TCH was wonderful the entire time; leaving no stone unturned in trying to determine what was causing his ailments, and ways they could help him and keep him comfortable, both physically and mentally.

By May, many of his side-effects were under control, and he was given a small treatment hiatus to allow his body to recover. Dr. Margolin reworked his treatment protocol in order to tailor it to his specific needs. Throughout the summer, Luke returned to the hospital every 3 weeks for inpatient chemo. By the end of September he was finished with his inpatient chemo and began out patient treatment where he now returned to the cancer clinic about once a month for continued treatment as well as taking oral chemotherapy pills at home both daily and weekly. Treatments lasted another two years.

Fast forward to November of 2015, Luke had finished treatment and got to “ring the bell” at TCH signifying the end of a long hard journey. Luke was cured! Fast forward even further to December of 2020 where Luke then entered into the long term survivors program. Key word, survivor. It is by the grace of God and funds raised for pediatric cancer research that Luke is a survivor today.