Learning that one of your children has cancer is heartbreaking enough, but Aaron and Angie Rush are living every parent's worst nightmare — times three. All three of the Rush's boys have been diagnosed with the same rare form of eye cancer, according to Yahoo!, which has left them facing astronomical medical expenses (not to mention a tremendous amount of stress). The Rushes are sharing their story in hopes of raising more awareness about the underfunding of childhood cancer research and the desperate need for more.
The Rushes' difficult journey began back in 2015 when doctors diagnosed their firstborn, Tristen, with rhinoblastoma.
The news was a difficult blow for the Marietta, Georgia, couple, though in some ways, it wasn't a surprise.
Angie Rush had been diagnosed herself as a child, and even lost an eye to the disease, WXIA-TV reports. Before she had children, she was told there was a 50 percent chance that she could pass on the gene.
Still, the couple never could have believed that in the years that followed, they would hear the same diagnosis two more times — first in 2017 when their son Caison was born, and again in 2019 when Carter arrived.
"I feel a lot of guilt, knowing that this is something I could pass down to them," Angie told WXIA. "But I also know that I've been blessed."
Retinoblastoma is a cancer that begins in the retina, the very back part of the eye.
"It is the most common type of eye cancer in children," Cancer.org reported, adding that in 1 out of 3 children, the condition is congenital (in other words, present at birth). For the Rushess, this was the case for their first two boys, but when Carter was born last year, doctors found him to be cancer-free — until January 6, when the baby was also diagnosed.
"The dangers are that the tumors can completely cover the eye in which [case] you would have to remove your eye because you don't want the cancer to spread," Angie Rush told WTHR.
If left untreated, retinoblstoma is almost always fatal, which is why early intervention is key.
As the Rushes are learning, entering into cancer treatment for three children at once is emotionally, physically, and financially draining.
A GoFundMe page for the family explained that baby Carter is about embark on the same treatments his brothers have received — six months of chemotherapy and continued laser treatments, which will hopefully keep the tumors growing in his eyes at bay.
Despite being down this road before, the toll this has already taken on the family is difficult to put into words.
"As a parent, you would do anything to provide the best health care for your children, whatever it costs!" stated a summary on the page, which is being organized by Aaron Rush and his mother, Jeanne Fulwider Rush. "And it does cost almost everything you have if your child faces a medical illness or disease. Now imagine that cost times three!"
In fact, the exorbitant medical costs have already forced the Rush family to sell their home and move in with family to save money.
"As you can imagine, the 'unknowns' of dealing with cancer are stressful enough without the added financial stress associated with the numerous doctor visits, hospital stays, and missed time from work," the page noted. "Every day they walk by faith believing that the Great Physician knows their every need."
To date, the family has raised more than $52K of the $60K goal, and has since updated the page to say they are "overwhelmed with all the outpouring of love, prayers, and support" they've received from friends, family, and strangers from across the Internet.
Still, their battle is far from over.
For one thing, the medical bills just keep on coming. Just one month into the new year, the family has already met their insurance deductible, WTHR reported.
"They've met it every year for the last five years," Jeanne Rush said.
But the family also hopes that in sharing their story, they can help raise awareness about how severely underfunded childhood cancer research is.
Just 4 percent of federal government cancer research funding is directed toward the study pediatric cancer each year, according to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. Despite that, each day an estimated 43 children (or 15,780 per year) will be diagnosed with some form of the disease. Perhaps it's no wonder why cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease among children.
"[More funding] would lead to less side effects, possibly less time for kids being in the hospital and more time for them to be kids. Just more effective treatment, so they can get better," Angie Rush told WTHR.
For now, the family is doing what they can to rally behind all three of the children.
Carter is due back for another chemo treatment February 17, which will be his second of six treatments. In the meantime, the Rushes say he seems blissfully unaware that he is sick.
"The fact that he is happy most of the time and he's just living his life is a wonderful blessing for him and us, too," Angie Rush shared.
But the boys' grandmother, Jeanne, notes that all three of the boys have been champs throughout their diagnoses.
"They are warriors," she told WTHR. "I go with them to the hospital many times and they get IV's, they get drops in their eyes and they are just warriors."
