15-year-old Jayden was diagnosed with ALL in 2013. He loves riding his quad, playing soccer, football, video games, and all typical boy stuff!
Jayden’s mom wrote this about her Courageous Kid…
“It was December 2, we had been preparing for Christmas. Jayden had displayed some flu like symtoms the week prior to December 2, 2013. The doctor ordered some blood work just to be safe as she noticed a rash on his lower legs.I remember where I was when I received the call, I was in the car line at the kids school waiting to pick him and his sister up from school. His doctor wanted us to go to Phoenix as we live in a rural town to have his blood looked at under a microscope. The was the day Christmas and our lives took on a different meaning. That night we were informed our son had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.That Christmas was spent in the Ronald McDonald House and there in that room is where my child’s hair began to fall out. That is where we learned that we would be no longer living a rat race ordinary lifestyle but one that would now be lived day by day and in the moment. We learned of a moto and it was to NEGU via a joyjar we had received while in the hospital.We received many little gifts as it was Christmas time at the Childrens Hospital, however the greatest gift was the gift of our sons gift of a smile and his continued progress with winning his battle with cancer. Three years 3 months and 29 days later of taking chemothearpy daily, as well as over 30 spinal taps of injected chemo into the spinal cord, a year and six months of traveling 200 miles every Friday for treatment which included iv chemo, antibiotics, steroids, etc. and multiple hospitalazations due to infection, low platlets which required platelet infusions, blood transfusions, ect. The other year and a half of our three year journey began with bi-weekly trips and eventually monthly trips. The journey to beat cancer was one that required never giving up, staying the course, daily prayer as well as having God on speedial. Our son was placed from day one in a high risk category because he was 10 years old. That meant our son had to sign on the dotted line next to our signature to accept Chemo..can you imagine being 10 and signing your little somewhat cursive signature to receive a medicine that your own parents no nothing about? We were given two options, take the standard treatment or do the the study which required giving more blood and bone marrow as well as taking a chance on Science and the newest trial medication. Today, now two months post chemo, our son our gentle giant who was 11 almost 12 when diagnosed, now stands 5ft 11in at the age of 15 years, looks as healthy as could be hoped for. He wears a few scars where his port lived and the memories that have come with this awful journey.Currently, two months out of chemo we still journey 200 miles from home every month to check his counts still fighting still never giving up, still living with anxiety that everything will be okay. As far as Christmas goes, we still put up the same little tiny tree that used that Christmas in the Ronald McDonald house as a reminder of our holiday where the gift of life was more important the anything under the tree. What is it that we need.. gosh we could ask for money for bills, we could take a leap and say a new car as ours has taken a beating, we could ask for a family trip where we could make a happy memory, ultimately I just want my son to be okay. His nickname is bluesky, our love for our son is greater then the bluesky above and we our so fortunate that the sun rises and sets and he is still with us.”
WE NEGU FOR YOU JAYDEN!!!
To follow Jayden’s journey visit Facebook.com/JaydensJourney