David Lupo
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David Lupo was born on December 5, 2012 to his mom Courtney and dad Terrence and then later became an incredible big brother to his little sister Rose. David is especially interested in Ants (much to his mom's delight), he's played soccer for almost six years and is fiercely competitive. David is so very kind and polite and makes friends with everyone he meets. He never judges and is first to offer extra help or patient assistance riends in class that may need it. He goes to singing lessons and is pretty into musicals like Epic. A huge part of his life right now is collecting Pokemon cards. Bulbasaur is his favorite! He is in sixth grade this year, loves math and is in the advanced math class.
He loves video games and his friends. Soccer was great and he's since pulled back from it. He's a young man of expensive taste in food. He likes fondue (which mom and dad blame themselves for not getting a babysitter on date night) and he likes sushi and crab legs. Steak is high on the list too but he will also settle happily for Chick-fil-A or Burger King.
David's family feels blessed by a strong support system but his favorite person other than his parents is his uncle. He looks to too him so much and they are incredibly close, so much so that for his Make-A-Wish discovery his first ask was can my Uncle join us. Forget Mom and Dad and sister... For sure my uncle!
Even before David was diagnosed his incredible character was noticed by others. Two months before diagnosis he was honored with his schools 'Hope' award for the child that never gives up and is always willing to try again. His resilient spirit has never waned. His family has three cats and they are his entire world. Their names are Sith, Stella and Whiskey and he loves them so much. He likes space but not really planets just space and stars mostly. He loves playing silly pranks on people like hiding and scaring them around the corner.
There are so many things that make David unique but the most important thing about him is that he is so very kind. When people ask how he's doing he always follows up with asking how they are as well and he genuinely cares and ask for more details.
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Diagnosis
David started off with headaches, his mom also got migraines and she initially didn't think to much of it. But he came home from school with a massive headache, throwing up, light sensitivity and trouble walking unbalanced. Courtney took him to the ER the next day and that's when they told us that they also thought it sounded like a migraine but recommended a CT scan. That is when the Lupo family's world collapsed. Despite that devastating news, they felt so lucky that they were near a major hospital with specialists for brain tumors and David was quickly transported to Children's Hospital of Colorado.
David's journey has not been easy, but their family feels blessed to have an incredible support system.
David had to do special radiation in the beginning over an hour and 15 mins one way every day for 6 weeks. Their village helped make that travel special for David and less of a burden on Courtney and Terrance. Their community has also stepped up to show David an incredible amount of love and support, including special yellow out sports night at the high school that Courtney works at and events to help raise money for childhood cancer awareness. David has been able to serve as honorary team captain, do the coin toss for football and throw out the first pitch for softball. The love the Lupo family has felt has been incredibly uplifting on really hard days.
Through all of this David's spirit of kindness, joy and care for others has shone through every interaction he has with everyone he meets from the EMTs that transported him to the hospital to his care team. His family is especially thankful for the support of the ChadTough DIPG Navigator program. They have been a lifeline, sharing clinical trial recommendations and helping them navigate through the unknown nightmare of DIPG.
Courtney, on why she is sharing today, "I'm sharing to tell David's story. I'm holding on to hope that this all means something and that these kids deserve a freaking fighting chance and I'm not going to let it stand for nothing. I'm holding on to hope!"
The Archer Foundation is proud to know the Lupo family and join them in hope for a lifetime for David to share his heart, his kindness and his joy with the world.
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