As I continue to share some of the real faces behind childhood cancer, I ask that if you have or know someone who has a story to tell, please email me and I will share on the blog!

Let me introduce you to CJ:

CJ’s Story:

Nine year old CJ got diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma, a rare cancer, on July 20, 2012. He has been receiving chemotherapy treatments and numerous testing. He as been attending the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, where he will continue getting treatment for the next five months.

Since his diagnosis, CJ has been on an intense chemo regimen that proved very difficult and strenuous on his kidneys The chemo is really hitting CJ hard… the past couple of days he has been feeling horrible. Late August, he was experiencing stomach pains and was taken to the ER. They did an abdominal X-Ray, blood work, and urine sample; which all came out “okay”! They also gave him some different pain medication and let him go home. Unfortunately, he somehow got an infection in his colon and had an even longer hospital stay.

By Sept 4th the infection was under control, and once he got full kidney function he would be able to come home. Around 1 that morning; however, he got up to use the bathroom and it turns out he now has a hernia and needed to have surgery. Unfortunately, his counts were still so low, his body is not strong enough for them to do it.

A few days later, the doctors have decided not to touch the hernia until ALL of his chemo treatments are done. Luckily, the hernia has gone down a little.

You can follow CJ’s Crusade to fight Lymphoma here.