Patients of the Week – Javon and Jakayla Bass

By St. Jude/PIO
August 5, 2009

Javon and Jakayla Bass
8 and 3 years old

Diagnosis:

Javon was discovered to have acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in 2003 and his sister Jakayla was found to suffer from ALL in 2008.

Javon and Jakayla’s Story:
When Javon was 2 years old, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer. He underwent three years of chemotherapy at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Near the end of his treatment, doctors discovered Javon had suffered a relapse and would need more chemotherapy, as well as radiation. Javon began his new course of treatment at St. Jude, and was nearly always accompanied by his mom, Lisa, and baby sister, Jakayla.

In fall 2008, about a month before Javon finished treatment for a second time, Jakayla became sick. She had the symptoms of a cold, and then she stopped eating. Lisa took her to their local doctor, who did blood work. The results of those tests were troubling, and the doctor quickly referred the family to St. Jude.

At St. Jude:
Faced with the possibility that not one, but two, of her children were suffering from cancer, Lisa was devastated. “I thought I was in a dream, and I’d wake up,” she said. But she trusted the medical experts at St. Jude.

St. Jude doctors quickly determined that, like her brother, Jakayla suffered from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She began an intense chemotherapy protocol.

Lisa says that it was hard for Javon to learn that his little sister had cancer too, but the Child Life specialists at St. Jude explained to him that he could help her get through it, and that made him feel better.

The two children couldn’t be closer. They like to sing together and play Gameboy™.

“Jakayla loves Javon,” Lisa said. “She wants him always by her side.”

And although Jakayla still has two more years of treatment to go, Lisa is happy to report that her little girl is in remission.

Editor’s Note: To help give hope to children like Javon and Jakayla who are fighting life-threatening illnesses, please become a Partner In Hope.

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Source: St Jude Hospital