Jazzy is the youngest of three and the only girl. She’s the apple of her family’s eye. Before she was diagnosed with cancer, Jazzy was a blur of motion, always running and jumping and playing.
“She loves the trampoline and playing dodgeball with her cousins,” said her mom, Mykel. “And she loves going to the beach with her dogs.”
![St. Jude patient Jazzy with her mom](/content/sites/www/en_US/home/about-st-jude/stories/meet-our-patients/meet-jazzy/jcr:content/par-1/cnt_image_copy_copy_.img.16.medium.jpg/1579794786031.jpg)
St. Jude patient Jazzy with her mom, Mykel
In late 2018, Jazzy started to throw up and began to lose her balance. Her parents took her to the pediatrician, who sent Jazzy for an MRI.
“When the doctor told us there was a mass on her brain, that Jazzy had cancer, we felt like the rug was pulled out from under us,” Mykel said. “It was devastating.”
![St. Jude patient Jazzy](/content/sites/www/en_US/home/about-st-jude/stories/meet-our-patients/meet-jazzy/jcr:content/par-1/cnt_image.img.16.medium.jpg/1592599063305.jpg)
Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
At St. Jude, Jazzy’s treatment included 30 rounds of proton therapy and four rounds of chemotherapy.
“At St. Jude, we hit the ground running. We love Jazzy’s nurses and the staff here. Her doctor is brilliant,” Mykel said.
![St. Jude patient Jazzy painting at a St. Jude art party](/content/sites/www/en_US/home/about-st-jude/stories/meet-our-patients/meet-jazzy/jcr:content/par-1/cnt_image_copy_copy.img.16.medium.jpg/1579795108903.jpg)
Jazzy painting at a St. Jude art party.
Jazzy loves school and her favorite subject is math. She enjoys making crafts and slime, and she likes to dance and read. Jazzy is now finished with treatment and returns to St. Jude for regular checkups.
“They made everything worry-free, so we could just focus on Jazzy.”
Jazzy's grandmother
Meet more patients
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Meet Avery
Avery was diagnosed with sickle cell disease soon after birth and she received a bone marrow transplant at St. Jude in early 2023. Her donor was one of her older sisters.
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Meet Misheel
Misheel was diagnosed with brain cancer and was referred to St. Jude, where she has received treatment, which included chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She has refused to let her illness keep her from spreading joy to others.
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Meet Janelle
When Janelle was just over a year old, her family noticed that she began to regress in her development. Medical tests revealed that Janelle had cancer.
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Meet Yazleemar
Yazleemar is an outgoing and expressive teenager. In 2012, Yazleemar was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare cancer. St. Jude offered more than treatment to her and her family.
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Meet Gideon
After Gideon was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, he was referred to St. Jude for immediate treatment.
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Meet Felicity
With a diagnosis of 5 tumors in her brain and spine, Felicity is facing a struggle, but you wouldn't know it by the constant smile on her face.
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Meet Charlie
Diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in his shoulder, Charlie was referred to St. Jude then underwent chemotherapy and surgery to replace a cancerous bone with titanium.
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Meet Ava
At 6 years old, Ava had a lump on her neck and tests showed she had more lumps in her belly. Tests revealed that she had a cancerous tumor and was referred to St. Jude.
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Meet Kamryn
At 2 years old, Kamryn's bloodwork indicated he had a form of blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Doctors referred him to St. Jude where he would undergo more than 2 years of chemotherapy while growing to love activities like Music Therapy.
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Meet Luxe
As a kindergartener, Luxe’s legs became so covered in bruises that her parents took her to the doctor. Luxe was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia.
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Meet Eliza
Eliza’s pediatrician referred her to an ophthalmologist after testing her eyes. In turn, she was referred to St. Jude as a tumor was visible in her right eye.
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Meet Rinoa
Rinoa had an MRI due to headaches and, later, double vision. Doctors found a cancerous brain tumor called medulloblastoma and was soon referred to St. Jude.
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Meet Adalyn
Adalyn had stomachaches that came and went with episodes of severe pain. At the ER, doctors found a large mass above her kidney, stage-4 high-risk neuroblastoma.
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Meet Braxton
Braxton was discovered to have a brain tumor at just 6 weeks old, with more scary news to follow. But St. Jude has given this family a lot to look forward to.
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Meet Chance
Chance was diagnosed with metastatic medulloblastoma. After surgery, referred to St. Jude, he received chemotherapy and proton therapy treatments to his brain and spine.