New treatment for 'Lil Jake'

Toddler Jake Smith from Lavey, who’s continuing his battle with a rare form of cancer, is set to be placed on a new experimental drug next month - becoming the first child to trial it, writes Ultan Sherry.

The decision to place Jake, who turns two in November, on the new treatment programme was taken after he was deemed no longer suitable for Chemotherapy.
His parents Pauric and Andrea say that Jake has had a good Summer health wise and has even begun to crawl. The family remain optimistic and are thankful to the wider community for all the support they have received to date.
However, following the growth of Jake’s life-threatening brain tumour, his Chemo has now ceased.
“He had an MRI scan two weeks ago and, although we haven’t had the full results of that scan, we do know that there is growth,” his aunt Martina Smith told the Celt this week.
The drug, which Jake is being placed on, has never been administered to a child before, and is the type of drug that would normally be given to lung cancer patients. Medical experts have said that the type of cancer that Jake has is deemed to be similar to lung cancer.
The drug is intended to act as a cancer cell growth inhibitor. “Our goal in any case will be to get Jake to three years of age, where he will become eligible for Radiotherapy because at the moment, he’s too young for that,” Martina explained to the Celt.
The concerning issue though is that, because Jake is peg-fed and cannot take anything in through his mouth, this drug will have to be broken down and oralised.
“Medics are trying to work out a strategy at the moment as to how this drug is going to be administered and in what levels and what doses, because he is so young and this has never been given to a child before,” his aunt said.
They are aiming for an October start date for the new treatment programme.
Despite all this uncertainty, Jake is doing really well at the minute.
He is receiving physiotherapy on a weekly basis and has also started crawling, to the joy of his family.
Donations and good will have been to the fore of this effort to keep Jake healthy for as long as possible, and his family are appreciative of those efforts. 
The funding pays for the nurses that help Jake’s parents out on a weekly basis, as well as any medical supplies and equipment that he might need as he is getting bigger all the time.
Funding has also allowed the Smiths to purchase a wheelchair-accessible vehicle.