How can a child diagnosed with brain cancer be considered lucky?

Before Danny Thomas built St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, an alarming 96 percent of kids diagnosed with the most common form of childhood cancer died. Today, because of the amazing work the doctors are doing in Memphis, 94 percent of those children live and go into remission!

One mother I met during my visit to St. Jude was from the Philippines. She said her little boy had frequently complained about his head hurting. Initially, she wrote it off as minor headaches and had told him to take a nap. But when the pain persisted, she took him to see his pediatrician and after running a battery of tests, the doctor said her little boy was very ill.

She received several referrals and took her son to a number of doctors. Finally, they were referred to St. Jude. "When we first arrived, I thought there was no way we'd ever be able to afford his treatments," she told me. But that was before she learned how things worked at St. Jude.

Soon, the doctors were working hard on helping her son with his brain tumor. Meanwhile, she and her husband learned that they would never receive a bill for any of the treatments their son would receive at St. Jude. That was a huge weight lifted off the family's shoulders! Now they could concentrate on getting their little boy well.

Today, two years after his initial diagnosis, her son is in remission and is living the life of a normal little boy. When the boy sang "The Impossible Dream" for us, none of us could keep from crying. Suddenly, the song's lyrics had a new meaning. This child had been so lucky, despite his brain tumor. He was lucky because he had great doctors. He was lucky because his parents were willing to do anything they could for him. But most of all, he was lucky because St. Jude existed and was able to offer him the medical help he needed, regardless of his family's ability to pay.

Now you have the chance to make other families and children with pediatric diseases feel "lucky." Become a Partner In Hope today, and your donations will assist in treating the worst medical cases, offering hope to families whose situations had previously seemed hopeless.

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