Jackson’s Story

Meet Jackson! Jackson is a fun-loving two year old who loves firetrucks, books and playing outside. On May 16th 2024 he was diagnosed with a Wilms Tumor on his left kidney. Further testing showed that the cancer had spread to both of his lungs as well. On May 17th 2024, he underwent emergency surgery to remove his kidney. He will receive chemotherapy and radiation to treat the cancerous spots on his lungs. 

Jackson is a fighter as this cancer diagnosis isn’t the only battle he has had in his short life. At birth he was diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s Disease, which affects the large intestine (colon) and causes problems with passing stool. He had multiple surgeries to repair his colon before he was six months old. Despite these challenges, Jackson has lived each day to its fullest.

Unfortunately, the first phase of Jackson’s chemotherapy treatments did not shrink the tumors as much as his medical team had hoped. Because of this, he then underwent both radiation and a stronger chemotherapy daily for 8 straight days to attack the tumors. Now, he is receiving chemotherapy once per week through October, at least. More scans will be performed to determine how effective this phase of treatment has been.

Jackson’s family was still in the middle of processing some other news as he was being diagnosed in May. His grandfather (or “Poppy” as Jackson calls him), was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer two weeks before Jackson’s diagnosis. This diagnosis was quite a shock as he had no symptoms. He was having some health tests done because he was planning to have knee replacement surgery and needed to be cleared for surgery. A routine x-ray of his lungs revealed this dreaded disease. Currently, Poppy (Jeff) is being treated with a targeted therapy medication that he takes daily. Scans are scheduled for mid-August to check the effectiveness of this treatment.

The Snipes/Cummings family is extremely close and fighting both of these cancer diagnoses together. Their family motto through all of these challenges this year has been “faith over fear.” They are choosing each day to live out Deuteronomy 31:6, having faith that the Lord is with them rather than being fearful of what the future holds!

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6