Help St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital continue to lead the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Your fundraising efforts help ensure that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — so they can focus on helping their child live.
Growing up, I was very familiar with St. Jude – some of my earliest childhood memories were walking the halls or riding in their wagons, because my oldest brother, Josh, is a patient there. He had Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, (THREE TIMES.) They saved his life, long before I ever knew they would be saving mine also. Fast forward some, when I was 15 years old – I noticed some lumps around my neck, and on my sternum. Doctors here were not convinced it was anything serious – my brother took me with him to his After Care Appointment at St. Jude. His doctor (Melissa Hudson) took one look and feel of my neck and immediately acted as my referring physician – I had an appointment for a biopsy the very next day. My biopsy was the scariest part – I was in pre-op, quiet, and in disbelief at what was really going on, as it had all happened so fast. The anesthesiologist assistant looked me in my eyes, and told me, “It’s okay to cry, if you need to. But you don’t have to do it alone.” That’s when I accepted that this was really happening, and let it all out! Initially I was diagnosed with Stage 4B Hodgkin’s lymphoma.(Not the same thing my brother had, strange!) They later downgraded it to stage 2B, seeing as how the tumors were only wrapped around my sternum, and not braided into it, as they thought before. I started an experimental protocol called HOD99 – with extensive chemotherapy and radiation following immediately thereafter – The full course lasted over 6 months, and I definitely did not feel perfectly fine for quite some time, but they were truly sent from up above. My health care team was always upbeat, sympathetic, wanted me to feel as okay as possible- at all times. The most amazing thing to me, was my parents and myself were never expected or asked to pay for anything, at all. They provided a place to sleep for my parents, gas money to make it to and from all appointments, (even when I couldn’t leave the grounds, they put my parents up in a nice place to stay!) I know my treatment was in the multi-thousands-of-dollars range, but they never once sent a bill. They gave us, a low-income family from Mississippi, the most gracious gift of all, for absolutely zero dollars. They rejoiced with me, when my scans and tests finally came back clear. I still see them, periodically, to ensure everything is okay. My story is only one, of SO MANY- They are truly a deserving charity or cause to donate to. Danny Thomas, the founder, his quote is all over the grounds. “No Child Should Die In The Dawn Of Life”
Stephanie Glover, Team Leader #4144