Last September, Woods complained of headaches, ran a fever and threw up in the mornings after he woke. His parents, Ashley and Henry, worried something was wrong.
Just before Woods’ fourth birthday, their fears were confirmed when a CT scan revealed Woods had a type of cancerous brain tumor called medulloblastoma.
St. Jude patient Woods with his favorite stuffed toy
We wanted to be where doctors saw hundreds of these types of cases.
Ashley and Henry were familiar with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and asked for a referral. “We wanted to be where doctors saw hundreds of these types of cases,” Henry said. Within days, the family arrived at St. Jude.
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. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90%.
At St. Jude, Woods underwent surgery to remove the tumor, followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy, which he completed in May 2018.
His family celebrated the end of his treatment with a No More Chemo party, attended by family, friends and Woods’ St. Jude care team.
St. Jude patient Woods with his mom, Ashley
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