SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Ron and Don Nation: Join the Climb for Casen effort
Jul 23, 2012, 6:21 PM | Updated: 6:21 pm
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Baby Casen has been diagnosed with a rare genetic
disorder, that could prove to be incredibly painful as he
grows up, unless he gets much needed medical treatment.
While his parents research and set up Casen’s treatment
options – a 17-year-old is stepping into help.
Five-month-old Casen Buswell has been diagnosed with
Glomuvenous malformation (GVM) plaque-type. It’s a genetic
disorder so rare, only 14 others world-wide are living
with the disorder; only two others have been specifically
diagnosed with Casen’s GVM-type.
The Buswell family recently returned from Belguim where
they spent three weeks talking to the only doctors in the
world that know anything about GVM. Fortunately, they
determined that Casen was treatable, and the treatment
could be done in the United States.
Still, the travel to where Casen would receive his
treatment in California, from Washington will definitely
get pricey. He’s going to need treatments every six to
eight weeks over the next two to three years.
Worse yet, the Buswell’s insurance won’t cover Casen’s
treatment. Due to the disorder being so rare, there
haven’t been extensive studies on the treatments to know
how effective they will be – and they’ve been dubbed
“experimental.”
When Julie Stutz heard about the Casen Buswell’s story –
her heart went out to the family. But then she realized
that her 17-year-old son’s ambition to climb Mt. Rainier
could benefit baby Casen.
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Hunter Stutz has been scraping together money from chores,
doing odd-jobs around the neighborhood and anything else
he can do raise the funds to join a climbing team
ascending Mt. Rainier.
Since he’s joined forces to raise money for Casen, he’s
raised that money, and some to spare for the Buswell’s
treatment fund. It’s not nearly enough though – they’ve
raised $4,000. Their goals is $10,000.
Hunter, who calls Puyallup home, plans to summit Mt.
Rainier on July 25. The Ron & Don Show are asking The
Nation to help baby Casen. You can donate here, to get Hunter up
Rainier, and Casen the treatment he needs.
Don made Hunter promise that even if he can’t summit Mt.
Rainier, to not put himself in danger. When he reaches his
personal summit, he’ll turn around and celebrate the climb
with Casen.
