Medicaid denies SA family out-of-state coverage for son's brain cancer treatment

Zane Cano undergoing treatment for cancer

SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio family is trying to keep the faith this holiday season, despite not knowing if their son will live to see another.

Super Zane, as he is known, is undergoing treatment for brain cancer for the second time in his young 21 months of life.

His family has been raising money for treatment and were within $5,000 of their goal when they got devastating news. "They say that as long as there is some sort of treatment here, they will not allow him to go outside the state of Texas," Jeremy Nelson, Zane’s father, said.

The “they” he is referring to is Medicaid.

The family is trying to get Zane treatment at Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Doctors have said that is the only hospital with the only proven treatment that can save the toddler.

Recent findings show that the specialized infusion Zane needs from Sloane Kettering has an 89 percent success rate. There is no known success case in the entire state of Texas.

"We have had a fantastic response to the news story and we are just completely humbled by San Antonio and everywhere." Kristi Cano, Zane's mother, said. "We are ready to get this started, get this rolling. "

As a result of the denial by Medicaid, the family is now back at The Children's Hospital of San Antonio getting chemotherapy treatments for Zane. It's hoped that chemotherapy will keep those cancer cells from growing and another tumor from popping up.

"They have their specific antibodies which target the neuroblastoma cells and they inject that directly into the spinal fluid, and nobody else does that in this country" Sheila Thampi, an oncologist at the children's hospital said, referring to Sloane Kettering

For now, the family said they are hoping Medicaid officials change their mind.

They also continue to raise funds and have set up a GoFundMe account.