DELCAMBRE, KATC - Graduation marks a special time in one’s life. So when 11-year-old Fisher Melder, who is battling brain cancer, was not cleared to attend his in-person 5th grade graduation ceremony, his principal and teacher decided to drive 14 hours from Delcambre, Louisiana to Memphis, Tennessee to bring his graduation to him.
“I was supposed to (go) but my labs were just not there,” Fisher said.
A low platelet count can delay treatment. Fisher’s Mother Philana Melder tells KATC in order for Fisher to start the next round of chemo, his platelets must maintain above 50 on their own with transfusions and his ANC must be over 750.
A normal ANC (automated neutrophil count) which are cells created to fight infection is above 1600. Fisher has struggled with getting his ANC up. He stayed at zero for many days and only in the last few days was it able to come up. Today, he was able to get his ANC to 300. For these reasons, he was unable to attend the in-person graduation.
“I woke up in the middle of the night and looked over and saw my sister and I thought I was dreaming and then when I woke up and she was here and my principal was here I understood I wasn’t dreaming,” he said.
A dream that became a reality for Fisher, uplifting his spirits after weeks of rigorous treatment.
In October 2023, Fisher was experiencing severe headaches. As the situation got worse, his parents took him to the emergency room where they later discovered multiple tumors and he was diagnosed with stage three brain cancer.
Today, he is halfway through his treatment and in true Louisiana fashion, his priority is getting back home and eating some Cajun cuisine.
“Gumbo, red beans and rice, and crawfish,” he said.
And despite being 460 miles away from his home, Fisher says he feels happy he was able to celebrate this incredible milestone.
“I would like to say a really big thank you to everybody,” Fisher said.
