Jamia was a very sick 3-year-old when she arrived at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Yet she had been active and playing right up to her cancer diagnosis.
In fact, her mom only took her to the hospital because she noticed Jamia was gasping for breath while playing outside.
There, an X-ray showed a large mass in her chest. She also had tumors in her right lung, which had collapsed, and tumors up and down her spine.
The diagnosis was neuroblastoma, a type of cancer arising from nerve cells.
Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago.
She was referred to St. Jude right away, where chemotherapy was the first step in a long treatment plan.
Following a successful surgery, she underwent a stem cell transplant, radiation therapy and antibody therapy.
And through all these procedures and treatment, Jamia's family got to focus on what mattered most.
"They take care of everything – food, rides, where you’re going to sleep, medical bills," said Jamia's mom. "They’re going to take care of you – not just financially, but your child."
God has His hand on St. Jude. It’s a wonderful place. The only thing they want you to do is focus on your child.
And Jamia managed to bounce back from every hurdle.
Meet more patients
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Meet Imani
Imani was diagnosed with cancer at 5 weeks old. Her family feared the worst. But at St. Jude, there was hope for her future.
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Meet Leah
Leah is a big sister who loves dresses, shopping, singing and helping in the kitchen. In March 2019, she was referred to St. Jude for acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment, which included a transplant with her mother as her donor.
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Meet Elliott
Elliott is social and loves the outdoors. He also loves St. Jude, where he's being treated for leukemia.
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Meet Dahiralis
Dahiralis is a very active little girl who loves to play, jump and run everywhere. At 3 years of age, she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancerous tumor, and was referred to St. Jude where doctors provided her much-needed treatment and care.
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Meet Melanie
When Melanie was diagnosed with brain cancer and referred to St. Jude, she wasn’t nervous. She was actually looking forward to treatment — chemotherapy, proton therapy and visits from St. Jude therapy dog Huckleberry — because to Melanie, St. Jude meant getting well again.
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Meet Harmony
Harmony is artistic, detailed-oriented and loves to debate. When she noticed something was wrong on her walks to class, no one expected the cause to be a stage four Wilms tumor.
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Thank you for supporting St. Jude in 2020
The kids and families of St. Jude are grateful for your support.
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Meet Marina
Marina is a joyful 2-year-old who loves to laugh and dance with her siblings. She was referred to St. Jude after a white glimmer in her pupil led to her being diagnosed with retinoblastoma, an eye cancer.
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Meet Mia
Mia is a friendly, caring child who was referred to St. Jude from her home country of Nicaragua when she was 5 years old. She was diagnosed with anaplastic ependymoma, a malignant tumor in her brain.
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Meet Luis
Like many boys his age, Luis wanted to be a soccer player when he grew up. But then he was diagnosed with cancer. Now he wants to help kids like him.
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Meet Eleanor
Eleanor is a determined baby who arrived at St. Jude on her first birthday. She was diagnosed with down syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer.
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Meet Fletcher
Fletcher is a 12-year-old boy and a huge Cleveland Browns fan. So it was a dream come true when he announced the team's pick in the NFL draft on April 23.
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Meet Deuce
Deuce is a fun-loving kid who's undergoing treatment for a rare type of blood cancer.
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Meet Marric
Marric and his family had specific needs going into his treatment for lymph system cancer, but they never imagined how many of them would be met and exceeded at St. Jude.