2018 Little Warrior: Jackson Johnson

Jackson is an 11 year old boy who loves hunting, fishing, camping, baseball, football, basketball and video games. However this year was a bit different as he was diagnosed with an Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor, a rare, fast growing cancerous tumor of the brain that could have more cells floating around in his spinal fluid. He needed to have proton beam radiation therapy as soon as possible so we were referred to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He was set up right away with appointments and started radiation on December 18th. He finished his 30 treatments on January 30th and was set to start his first chemotherapy cycle with a study drug on February 27th. Today, March 22nd, he started his first round of IV chemo. He will do five cycles over the next many months. We don’t know what to expect exactly, since he made it through radiation with hardly any of the side effects that we were warned about, we are preparing for the worst. Jackson is strong and we know he will fight hard through every step and his family at home, his dad, Nick, older brother, Rhiley, older sister, Kimberly, and myself will be with him through each and every step along with numerous other family members and so many friends.