Spencer Jones

Welcome to Spencer's page. Spencer (now 10) was diagnosed with Stage 3 Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma on January 14, 2004, shortly after he turned 2 years old.

He has completed 10 months of chemotherapy (VAC/VTC Clinical Trial), 2 surgeries, 20 days of radiation and is currently in REMISSION!

Journal

Wednesday, February 28, 2007 11:32 AM CST

This is the face of cancer survivorship. Isn't it a cute face? It's been a year now since we've moved from Caringbridge to our new family website at www.keepupwithus.blogspot.com, but I still find myself checking back in here every so often, just to reminisce and feel grateful for how far we've come. Caringbridge was such a savior to us during Spencer's treatment, and we met so many new people through this website. I hope that people who are looking for a happy ending to the story that starts with the words "Your child has cancer" will find us and know that there is hope. At one of the Relay for Life events that we attended a few years back, Spencer was given a little polished purple rock with the word "HOPE" etched in it. We were told that as a cancer survivor, Spencer would represent hope to those newly diagnosed cancer patients, and we were instructed to pass the rock on when we some day met such a person in need of hope. But, really, I see this website as our little purple rock. It details our journey from diagnosis through treatment to remission and beyond. I look at what we've been through and where we are as a family now, and can't help but think of the word "HOPE."

It's good that we've moved on--to the new website and in our lives. It's wonderful that I no longer think of cancer every day with fear--a life I didn't think was possible even a year ago. We've passed three years of survivorship and 2 years of remission and are looking ahead to many more years of proudly wearing the badge of cancer survivors. If you've been following us from the beginning--thank you. If you're reading this, though, and are not at our new site, it's likely that you just found us and may be in a similar situation to what we found ourselves in on January 14, 2004 when Spencer was first diagnosed with cancer. To you I want to say--take courage. There is hope. Not every story ends in sadness. I had a hard time finding one that didn't when Spencer was diagnosed, and that's the main reason I'm driven to continue blogging about our lives. I want people to know that there are happy endings. So consider this your purple rock. Don't despair. Hang in there. There IS light at the end of the tunnel even though most days it doesn't feel like it. And don't ever give up your most precious resource in this exhausting and often terrifying journey--HOPE. Hope and faith will see you through when not much else will. Feel free to write to us. We'd be happy to hear from you.

Well, I probably won't be back here to write for another year or so, but I'm busy blogging away at our new home, so please stop by and say hi.

Shauna

Read Journal History

Hospital Information:

Patient Room: Home

Links:

E-mail Author: sjs2@byu.net

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Note: The foregoing information was authored by the patient, parent or guardian, or other parties who are solely responsible for the content. Such announcements or their content are not necessarily endorsed by CaringBridge, Inc. or any sponsoring agent.  This information does not confirm that anyone is or was actually a patient at any facility.