Three-year-old Caleb Harvey spends another vacation in the hospital while being treated for cancer.
INDIANAPOLIS — What DeMarcueis and Asiret Harvey most want for Christmas this year has nothing to do with presents under a tree.
That’s because what these parents most want can’t be found in a store.
“I think we have the same heart. We just want Caleb to get better,” said DeMarcueis.
That’s a tall order, considering Harvey’s 3-year-old son, Caleb, is literally fighting for his life.
“We have stage 4 neuroblastoma cancer that has metastasized,” DeMarcueis explained last August of Caleb’s diagnosis by doctors.
It was a day when, for a moment, the world of the Harveys stopped spinning.
“It’s hard to grasp, hard to understand when they say, ‘Your son has stage 4 cancer,'” Asiret explained.
“We were probably at the worst mentally we’ve ever been,” DeMarcueis added at the time.
Since then, Caleb has spent weeks at a time at the Riley Hospital for Children for surgery and chemotherapy, having his last round last week over Thanksgiving.
“I can’t do anything but try to comfort him,” Asiret said of Caleb’s pain that comes with the treatment.
For DeMarcueis, a veteran of the Marine Corps who is now a police officer and used to solving problems, this cancer makes him feel powerless.
“Our job as fathers is always to protect, to take that pain away and if you can’t do that, what do you do? Where are you going?” he asked.
On the tough days, DeMarcueis channels his inner superhero for Caleb, donning a cape and mask and visiting his son’s hospital room.
“I can make him laugh. I can make him believe I’m a superhero,” said DeMarcueis, all the while wishing he really had superpowers to take his son’s cancer away.
“How easy would life be if I could do that?” said DeMarcueis.
And Caleb’s fight isn’t over yet.
He has yet to undergo surgery, followed by a stem cell transplant and then radiation. Which means Caleb will probably be in the hospital this Christmas.
DeMarcueis will be home with the couple’s older sons, Christian and Carter.
“We are really dependent on our faith all this time,” Asiret said, praying for a miracle and not just a Christmas miracle.
“Our faith is really in Jesus, and we’re just really looking to Him for help,” Asiret said.
The family has started a GoFundMe page to raise money to cover some of Caleb’s medical bills.
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