When Tony was 9 months old, his parents, Janita and Antonio, noticed he wasn’t putting any weight on his right leg, he was lethargic and had a fever. They took him to the doctor, where Tony had a chest X-ray. “The doctor thought it was a virus,” said Janita, who is a nurse.
Patient Tony with his mom, Janita
That seemed to make sense, until Tony began to cry out in pain whenever someone touched his leg. Tony’s parents took him to the local children’s hospital, where doctors ran bloodwork.
Patient Tony with his dad, Antonio
Upon receiving the results of the test, they referred Tony to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital immediately. “They knew it was cancer, but they weren’t sure what kind,” said Janita.
Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food. -- because all they should worry about is helping their child live.
At St. Jude, tests confirmed Tony had a rare, aggressive subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer. St. Jude has helped push the childhood cancer survival rate from 20% when we opened to 80% today. Tony’s treatment will include chemotherapy.
“Coming to St. Jude lifted a weight off our shoulders,” Janita said.
Tony’s family is grateful for St. Jude. “Here, I get to be hands-on with Tony’s care,” Janita said. “From the first day, Tony and his doctor clicked, and I knew he was in great hands.”
Because of St. Jude, we have our baby.
Meet other patients
-
Meet Brayden
Brayden received chemotherapy as well as proton therapy for medulloblastoma at the first proton therapy center in the world dedicated solely to children.
-
Meet patient Natalie
Natalie seemed like a healthy toddler. But one day, she stopped using her left arm. She had Stage IV neuroblastoma and was referred to St. Jude for treatment.
-
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.
-
Meet Gideon
After Gideon was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, he was referred to St. Jude for immediate treatment.
-
Meet Camila
Camila was diagnosed three days before her 3rd birthday with a solid cancerous tumor of the kidney. Read her story.
-
Meet Alejandro
Ines and Alejandro think of their son Alejandro every day. Their active and curious boy would have been near adulthood by now. They honor his memory through their commitment to St. Jude. Read more here.
-
Meet Phoenix
Christmas Day plans for Phoenix’s family didn’t include a life-altering trip to the hospital. But at St. Jude, this close-knit family has been given hope.
-
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.
-
Meet Eli
At just 6 years old, Eli was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. His family was referred to St. Jude for his treatment and Eli underwent surgery to remove the tumor and a portion of his tibia.
-
Meet Joshua
St. Jude patient Joshua recently took to the court to help end childhood cancer by fundraising for St. Jude.
-
Meet Lucas: Patient
Lucas, who is from Chile, was 3-years old when he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma and was referred to St. Jude.
-
Meet Avyan
Avyan carries himself with confidence and strength beyond his years. His manner has given fortitude to his family as they walk through an unimaginable reality.
-
Meet Alana
Alana didn't let a cancer diagnosis get in the way of her dreams for the future. Neither did St. Jude.
-
Meet patient Jacob
Jacob had frequent headaches and wasn’t himself. Diagnosed with leukemia, he was referred to St. Jude for treatment including chemotherapy to try and save his life.
-
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.