For the past six years, Micah’s family has lived in China. His parents, Felicia and Jason, work with special needs orphans. In late 2014, they returned to the U.S. for a visit and planned to return to China in January 2015.
But while visiting family in Georgia, Micah complained of being sore. At first his parents assumed it was from playing rousing games of football and tag outside. When Micah started limping and the soreness evolved into pain, they took him to the doctor.
Within 48 hours, Micah and his family arrived at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where he's undergoing treatment for Ewing sarcoma, a type of bone cancer. The tumor is located in Micah’s upper left leg, near his hip. He underwent surgery, during which the tumor and part of the bone was removed. The bone was replaced with a titanium rod that will be adjusted as Micah grows. His continuing treatment includes chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
“A great thing about coming to St. Jude is that there was a clinical trial Micah could start, and he responded really well to it,” said Jason. “We knew other hospitals weren’t doing the clinical trial, just standard treatment.”
Micah’s parents are appreciative of everything St. Jude does for their family. Micah turned 10 shortly after he arrived at St. Jude. “We were inpatient and the staff painted the windows and Child Life brought presents,” Felicia said. “His doctors and nurses came. We had cake and silly string. Micah just loves Child Life.”
Micah does jujitsu, likes to play Minecraft™ and builds things with Legos®. While undergoing treatment at St. Jude, Micah’s family has also taken in the sights Memphis has to offer, including visiting the Memphis Zoo and going to Memphis Grizzlies basketball games. He's a funny, laid-back kid who looks forward to returning to China with his family. “I miss the food,” Micah said. “In China, they have real Chinese food, not like the Chinese food here.”
Help give hope to kids, like Micah, who are fighting life-threatening illnesses.
Meet more patients
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Meet Jamia
Jamia is weathering difficulties far beyond her years as she undergoes treatment for neuroblastoma, a type of cancer arising from nerve cells.
-
Meet Deuce
Deuce is a fun-loving kid who's undergoing treatment for a rare type of blood cancer.
-
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.
-
Meet Colton
Colton is a 9-year-old boy who's used to being active in every area of life. And while an aggresive form of kidney cancer might have threatened that, St. Jude was right by his side.
-
Meet Caitlyn
Being diagnosed with a brain tumor was one of the scariest experiences for Caitlyn and her family. But her fears are being eased with St. Jude by their side.
-
Meet Alana
Alana didn't let a cancer diagnosis get in the way of her dreams for the future. Neither did St. Jude.
-
Meet patient Lillian (Lily)
Lillian (Lily) and her sister, Emmy, are inseparable, and always on the move. St. Jude is keeping them that way.
-
Meet Declan
Declan and his sister are best friends. So when he had to come to St. Jude for treatment, she was there by his side every step of the way.
-
Meet Maryelle
Maryelle was diagnosed with a rare disorder that left her family with little hope.