Lindale, Texas (KLTV) – Cancer continues to be a major battle for children, including in East Texas. According to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, each day about 43 kids in the U.S. are diagnosed.
For the Blackwells, it’s been a battle they’ve been fighting for more than three years. At the age of six, their son Jase Blackwell was diagnosed with leukemia.
His parents say it all started with joint pains in early spring of 2021. As the pain got more consistent, his parents took him to see their local pediatrician. However, his blood work came out clean.
After being sent to Dallas to see an arthritis specialist, Jase was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis. However, a month later, his mother Ashley Blackwell says the medicine he’d been prescribed was not working.
“And I was just like … something was not right, he was to the point where he couldn’t walk,” she said.
In June 2021, it was an MRI of his legs that found cancer. The diagnosis was acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a genetic mutation affecting the blood cells in the body’s bone marrow. Jase’s father, Luke Blackwell, said that nothing could’ve ever prepared them for the news.
“Complete shock, just complete shock. I mean, just you’re not expecting to hear anything like that,” he said.
Chemotherapy started shortly thereafter at Children’s Health Medical Center in Dallas. Jase’s mother describes the treatment as intense.
“They would get spinal fluid out of his spine because leukemia does travel in the spine, and so they would pull that fluid out and inject chemo into his spine,” she recalled.
For over three years, life for the Blackwells has been a mix of daily medication and hospital stays. Over time, Jase slowly lost leg mobility, relying on a wheelchair to get around at one point. Since then, mobility has slowly come back
His mother said that, in total, Jase has gone under anesthesia 32 times with an oral chemotherapy count of over 2,600 pills. He’s also had 32 spinal taps and 66 port access. A port is implanted for medical staff to use to administer fluids or medication through a needle.
Jase’s father said they’ve been in survival mode from the day Jase got his diagnosis. The hardest part for them has been seeing their son endure so much.
“I think it’s just difficult, from a parent’s perspective, and watching your child have to go through something is difficult,” he said.
In this difficult journey, having resources back home has been crucial. Heather Rucker is the co-founder of the Gold Network of East Texas, a non-profit group helping families in East Texas who are experiencing pediatric cancer or who have finished their journey. She said organizations like theirs are few and far between in the region.
“There’s no reason that a community this size shouldn’t begin to have these great specialties that are needed,” Rucker said.
From trying to expand emergency care options for kids with cancer in East Texas to financial support, their goal is letting families know they are not alone.
“Meal gift cards, gas cards, Christmas gifts, care packages, as well as funding pediatric cancer research projects as well,” she said.
And it’s this very network that has made the Blackwell’s feel seen and heard in times of adversity.
Jase’s mom said that “just being with like-minded people that have been there, that know what you’re going through …is so valuable to our community.”
In this Childhood Cancer Awareness month, the Gold Network of East Texas and the families it serves hope to raise just that.
Although you may not see them everywhere, kids like Jase are present in our communities. His parents share with us that Jase officially ended chemo treatment this month. At the age of nine, this moment signifies a big accomplishment in his battle against cancer. He is expected to ring the bell for the end of his treatment in early October.
He’ll still have monthly doctors visits to check on his progress, but his parents say the hardest part is now over.
If you’d like to support families like the Blackwells, you can visit the Gold Network’s page for more information.
Copyright 2024 KLTV. All rights reserved.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66f25da15251413c80348adfea80120c&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ktre.com%2F2024%2F09%2F24%2Feast-texas-family-shares-sons-leukemia-battle-journey-through-chemo-ends%2F&c=8815845345840398688&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-09-23 19:24:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
