Around Thanksgiving, when Lucas began complaining of headaches, his parents thought he just wanted attention. What 3-year-old, mom thought, gets headaches?
By December, when his daycare teacher called to say he was laying on the ground, complaining about his aching head, walking funny and not wanting to play, an MRI was scheduled.
Lucas was excited because he was going to get his “head fixed,” mom says. But a 30-minute procedure stretched to two hours.
“They finally called back to the recovery room to help wake up my baby,” wrote his mother. “Once he heard my voice, he opened his eyes and asked to play with toys. Within moments, a doctor walked up and introduced herself to me as a pediatric neurosurgeon. My heart dropped. Why do I need to talk to a neurosurgeon?!”
One day you’re measuring the size of the fish your little boy caught in the lake, all by himself.
The next you’re being told the size of the tumor in the back of his head, and that he needs emergency surgery.
A few weeks after an eight-hour operation in a children’s hospital near their home, the family was bound for Memphis for treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Families, like Lucas', never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — so they can focus on helping their child live.
St. Jude wasn’t exactly home, but over the course of ten months, Lucas and his family found a second home. They found joy and made some of their own.
Read more about Lucas and his family's St. Jude journey here >.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
We won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. With your support, we’ll be one step closer to that day. Join St. Jude in recognizing Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Let’s cure childhood cancer. Together.
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