On February 21st, 2023, Jameson was scheduled to have surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to remove a regrown benign sacral teratoma that he was born with, which he had a previous removal of at 3 months old. As far as we knew his surgery went smoothly, there were no complications, and we would be able to go home the following day. Later that week, we had noticed his CHOP portal scheduling appointment after appointment. Then we received the phone call that would change our lives. “I’m sorry, your son has cancer.” Our beautiful, happy, wild 18-month-old would have to endure more scans, more sedations, more surgeries. Above all he was going to have to undergo chemotherapy. As a mother, my heart was shattered. I lay in bed at night, crying myself to sleep, begging God to please heal our son. As we started our journey at CHOP, we felt it was best not only for Jameson, but for our family, to start treatment locally at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital. Jameson would start his journey at Lehigh Valley on March 15th, 2023. 

 

Our first week did have a rough start, but Dr. Zinn and Emily, our Physician Assistant, helped ease us into the process. Jameson had two chemotherapy options. One was the standard treatment, and another was a current trial. Looking at both options, we asked to be put on the trial. Thankfully, we were chosen for the trial which gave us the ability to have outpatient treatment at the pediatric cancer clinic instead of inpatient treatment at the hospital. Our first time at clinic felt like a breath of fresh air. Jamo met other children who were, unfortunately, in the same situation as him. They were so precious and so kind, which made him feel a little more comfortable. The doctors, nurses, Child Life Specialist, and staff made Jamo feel so loved and cared for. They are all true angels. During our long days in clinic, we met a woman named Kris from PCFLV who truly turned our world around. Thanks to her everyone at PCFLV is now part of our family. PCFLV brought the feeling of normalcy to our life. They have helped bring us close to other families who know and understand all that our children and families go through. PCFLV brought joy back into our home.

 

On August 11th, 2023, Jameson was declared cancer-free and rang his finality bell! Since then, Jameson must get labs taken every three months, and full body scans every six months. We are now two years cancer-free.

 

This year in sharing Jameson’s story, we were given the opportunity to choose a place for his photos to be taken. We chose Kalmbach Park in Macungie. We chose this spot because, during Jameson’s chemotherapy, he was unable to go out and about and be around others like he used to be. So we would take a walk to the park and take in the beauty of nature. Kalmbach Park has such a wonderful nature trail. This was the most joy we would have during our off-chemotherapy weeks. This trail has become an everyday adventure walk with the family, as well as Jamo’s favorite place to go.

 

Written by Jameson’s mom, Carissa

Please consider helping children with cancer and others in our community by scheduling a blood donation at Miller-Keystone Blood Center: https://donor.giveapint.org/donor/schedules/zip