September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and each year this month gives us an opportunity to pause, look back at how far Jack has come, and remember the many families who are still right in the middle of their childhood cancer journeys.
It is hard to believe that it has now been three years since Jack was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma on August 25, 2023. We are incredibly grateful to say that today he is two years in remission.
There was a time when so much of Jack’s life revolved around hospital rooms, chemotherapy, procedures, surgeries, and his liver transplant. Today, his days look wonderfully different.
He goes to school. He takes swim lessons. He does karate. He plays, learns, makes friends, and keeps us laughing with the huge personality that has always been so uniquely Jack.
These may sound like ordinary childhood milestones, but we don’t take a single one of them for granted.
We get to watch him grow. We get to cheer him on as he learns new things. We get to celebrate the little moments that once felt impossibly far away.
And this September, we are celebrating all of it.
Jack Featured in Paradise Valley City Lifestyle for Childhood Cancer Awareness
One particularly special way we are celebrating Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this year is seeing Jack featured in the September issue of Paradise Valley City Lifestyle Magazine.
Jack is one of four incredible children featured in the magazine’s “Strength Is Always in Style” article, which celebrates not only what these children have endured, but who they are beyond their diagnoses—their personalities, interests, joy, and everything that makes them them. That message means so much to us.
Cancer will always be part of Jack’s story, but it has never been the first thing we think about when we think of him. We see our spunky, energetic, chatty little boy. We see his huge personality, his contagious smile, and the joy he brings everywhere he goes.
The article shares pieces of Jack’s journey—from his hepatoblastoma diagnosis and treatment to his liver transplant and the 161 consecutive days he spent inpatient—but, more importantly, it captures the little boy on the other side of all of that.
We are so proud of him and so grateful for another opportunity to share his story and bring awareness to childhood cancer.
Read Jack’s “Strength Is Always in Style” feature here:
https://citylifestyle.com/art…/strength-is-always-in-style
You Carried Us — Now We Want to Carry Another
Celebrating how far Jack has come also makes it impossible not to think about the families who are receiving a cancer diagnosis today.
Three years ago, we were that family.
We remember the shock of hearing the diagnosis, how quickly our entire world changed, and how overwhelming it was to suddenly find ourselves navigating childhood cancer.
We also remember how many people stepped in to carry us.
The generosity and love shown to our family throughout Jack’s treatment, our move across the country for his care, his liver transplant, and everything that followed is something we will never forget.
This year, we want to take some of that kindness and pass it forward.
We have recently become involved with the Hepatoblastoma Resource Network (HRN), and Moira has begun serving as a parent mentor, connecting with other families—particularly moms—who are experiencing that same shock of diagnosis and beginning cancer treatment.
Being able to give back in this way is incredibly meaningful to us. Sometimes what a parent needs most is simply another person who can say, “We have been there. We understand. You are not alone.”
HRN also provides direct financial assistance to families navigating hepatoblastoma treatment, helping with expenses such as travel, lodging, meals, medical-related costs, unexpected expenses, and holiday assistance.
For Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, our family is making a donation and has set a small goal of raising $500 to help support other hepatoblastoma families.
If you would like to help us pay forward some of the generosity that was once given to our family, you can donate here:
https://secure.givelively.org/…/hrn…/moira-judd
Thank You
More than anything this September, we are grateful.
Grateful that Jack is here, healthy and growing. Grateful for two years in remission. Grateful that instead of counting chemotherapy rounds and hospital days, we are celebrating school days, swim lessons, karate, and all of the wonderfully ordinary milestones of childhood.
And we are incredibly grateful for all of you who have continued to follow Jack’s journey.
Thank you for loving our family, for celebrating these milestones alongside us, for helping us spread awareness about childhood cancer, and for remembering the families who are still living through the days that we will never forget.
You carried us through those days. We hope we can now help carry another family through theirs.