“Julia loves making people smile,” said her mom, Valery (pictured above with Julia). “She makes people smile all the time.” But for years, this outgoing girl was prone to spells of fainting, followed by vomiting on regaining consciousness. In searching for a cause, her local doctor did an ultrasound of Julia’s abdomen — and was surprised to find two tumors on her left kidney.
Julia was referred to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for treatment of a cancer called Wilms tumor, including surgery to remove the affected kidney, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. And at St. Jude, doctors finally determined the reason for Julia’s fainting.
“Their focus was the cancer, but they were also concerned and trying to figure out what was going on with her heart as well,” said Julia’s mom. Unrelated to the Wilms tumor, they discovered a congenital defect that was causing Julia’s heart to stop beating for up to nine seconds at a time, resulting in unconsciousness.
As soon as Julia was cancer-free, she received a pacemaker, and has not passed out since.
Though today 6-year-old Julia is again doing karate, gymnastics, singing and pageant competitions, her battle back was arduous. She fell prey to flu and other setbacks, and at one point weighed just 31 pounds.
In May 2016, Julia missed the St. Jude kindergarten graduation because she was in the intensive care unit. But the St. Jude School Program by Chili's takes special care to ensure that patients are able to celebrate special milestones, even while they’re in active treatment. So staff brought a kindergarten graduation celebration to her, complete with cap and gown, diploma, balloons and decorations and a photographer to commemorate the event. And Julia, as sick as she was, helped supply the smiles.
Help our families focus on their sick child, not medical bills.
When you donate monthly, your gift means families, like Julia's, never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
Meet more patients
-
Meet Ay'Den
Ay'Den is a kind boy with an easy smile. When he collapsed, his family was afraid he had COVID-19. Ay'Den would be diagnosed with leukemia and referred to St. Jude.
-
Meet Eli
At just 6 years old, Eli was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. His family was referred to St. Jude for his treatment and Eli underwent surgery to remove the tumor and a portion of his tibia.
-
Meet Max
Max traveled from China, with an Illinois couple who adopted him, to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital where he and the family received lifesaving treatment and comforting support in equal measure.
-
Meet Nova
Though Nova's eye cancer is aggressive and she is being treated for a second time, her parents know the doctors at St. Jude will stop at nothing to help their baby girl live.
-
Meet Aspen
Aspen was not yet two when diagnosed with neuroblastoma. She was treated in the Philippines but six months later, the cancer was spreading so she was referred to St. Jude.
-
Meet Keegan
Before age 2, Keegan was diagnosed with leukemia and her family was referred to St. Jude where doctors immediately got to work trying to save her life.
-
Meet Eduardo
At 6 months old, Eduardo was referred to St. Jude where he was diagnosed with liver cancer. His treatment included surgery to remove the mass and chemotherapy.
-
Meet Thiago
Thiago loves to dance to the rhythm of his dad's djembe. In 2019, he was born with bubble boy disease and was referred to St. Jude where he underwent a new gene therapy to save his life.
-
Meet Aaron-James
At age 2, after being diagnosed with sickle cell disease, Aaron-James came to St. Jude where he loves talking to the nurses and doctors.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Meet Elliott
Elliott is social and loves the outdoors. He also loves St. Jude, where he's being treated for leukemia.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.