My son Jude was diagnosed with a low-grade glioma brain tumor in 2014 when he was just two months old. By the time Jude was three months old he had had three surgeries and had started chemotherapy. One year into treatment his tumor started to grow again, and he had to start all over with a new chemo regimen.
Finally, two years later in October of 2016, the tumor in Jude’s brain was considered ‘shut down’ and the chemotherapy was finished.
Jude is now an incredible six-year-old who just started kindergarten. He is a joyful, happy, and goofy little boy. As lucky as I know we are, like many childhood cancer survivors, we still deal with the effects of Jude’s cancer as his brain was impacted by the treatments he received. He has weakness in his right arm, hand and leg, as well as other delays and disabilities caused by the tumor, chemo, and the illnesses he endured in his first two years of life.
My hope is that no other family will face a childhood cancer diagnosis, and that’s why CureSearch’s focus on funding new, safer treatment options is so important. It brings us hope to know that CureSearch-funded researchers are working right now to find cures for glioma and other devastating pediatric brain tumors. I hope you’ll join me this Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in supporting this lifesaving research.
-Kristel St. Ores, Jude’s mom
