In the last 12 months, Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee has granted 150 wishes, seven in Wilson County, with four of those being Lebanon families. They currently have nine more Wilson County kids in their pipeline, with four more of those being from Lebanon.
“We are honored to grant wishes in Middle Tennessee and are looking forward to granting every eligible wish in Wilson county,” says President and CEO, Beth Torres, who recently connected us to a special story of Luca, a Lebanon boy who received his wish this past spring. His mom recounts their experience below.
Tell us about Luca!
Luca has always been the happiest, silliest, and active little boy! He loves to sing, dance, and pretend that he is a dinosaur or animal whenever given the opportunity! His newest pastime is telling jokes and making Momma and Dad laugh. He has shown a special interest in animals and loves telling animal facts, their sounds, and even their favorite snack. One of our favorite places to visit is the Nashville Zoo!
How has Cystic Fibrosis impacted Luca?
Luca was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, or CF for short, at one week old. He was born with a blockage in his bowels and spent the first four months of his life in the hospital because of complications related to this blockage. He also had trouble gaining and maintaining a healthy weight. Since day one, Luca has always been a fighter! Most of our therapy and routine regimen consists of prevention and management of symptoms. Luca spends about an hour per day connected to a vest machine. This machine shakes his chest and loosens mucus from his lungs—in the hopes that we can prevent the build-up of ‘yucky bugs’ as we call them.
Luca also requires specialized medications to help digest his foods. He takes about 22 pills per day! Luca also does breathing treatments to assist in keeping the thick and sticky mucus in his lungs thinned out and the airways clear.
This summer, Luca had the blessing of beginning a new medication called Trikafta. This medication works by working directly with the CFTR protein defects that make CF what it is. We have seen several improvements in Luca with this—he is sicker for shorter periods, and he has beautiful lung function! Our hope is that we will see continued improvements in Luca’s lung health, digestive health, weight maintenance, and over all well-being because of Trikafta.
We are very involved as a family in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Our work as a community is not yet done. There are many living with CF that are not eligible for medications like Trikafta. A cure for CF does not yet exist. Our hope is that one day CF will be able to stand for “cure found”!
Tell us about Luca's Make-A-Wish Experience
When asked what he’d like, Luca quickly decided his first request was to feed an elephant! We have been to the local zoo dozens of times but until this trip, Luca had not had the opportunity to meet or even see one in person! Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee dreamt up this amazing wish trip for us! San Diego has one of the biggest zoos in the country, and they have elephants! With Luca’s love of animals and zoos, we knew a trip based around the concept of being a zoologist was the perfect wish!
The entire trip and experience was a dream come true for Luca and our family! We were greeted at the airport by an incredible staff, and Luca’s first flight (a four-hour flight at that!) was so fun! The flight attendants made him feel so special, and he was even able to sit in the cockpit with the pilots and push some buttons! Once we landed in San Diego, we were met by staff from the Make-A-Wish San Diego chapter, and settled into our hotel! We had the opportunity to go to both the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and the San Diego Zoo. The Safari Park was so amazing! Luca really loved seeing the animals in a new light! The following day we went to the San Diego Zoo and were met by Laura, our own tour guide and zoo expert! She was wonderful! Luca had his own ride around the zoo and a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the zoo! And guess what? He fed an elephant! He also fed giraffes, petted a snake, met new animals he’d only read about, and our family made some truly core memories! We also had the opportunity to visit SeaWorld San Diego and see some magnificent sea life! And to finish our trip off we went to The Jurassic World Exhibition. Luca was able to see dinosaurs up close and personal. Luca still talks about this trip!
What did Luca's wish mean to him and your family?
This wish has meant and means so much to our family. Having a child with a chronic illness can be very trying and difficult. The light and memories that this trip gave us will last a lifetime! The Wish Reveal Party that the ladies of Chi Omega put on for Luca was a blast! Luca still talks about his animal party! We are so thankful to Make-A-Wish Middle TN, Make-A-Wish San Diego, the ladies of Chi Omega, and all of those who made this wish possible!
At Make-A-Wish, we celebrate medical advancements and improved treatments for the wish kids we serve. Given the ongoing life-changing advances in cystic fibrosis research and treatment, Make-A-Wish is transitioning our CF eligibility to qualify for a wish on a case-by-case basis. This means that CF will no longer automatically qualify for a wish but will be eligible when accompanied by additional complications or factors that make the current situation critical. This change will take effect January 1, 2024, so all children with CF will automatically qualify for a wish if referred by December 31st, 2023. Children can be referred at wish.org/refer-a-child
"Having a child with a chronic illness can be very trying and difficult. The light and memories that this trip gave us will last a lifetime!"
pull quote for page three:
"Since day one, Luca has always been a fighter! Luca spends about an hour per day connected to a vest machine. He loves to sing, dance, and pretend that he is a dinosaur or animal whenever given the opportunity"