St. Jude Storied Lives Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

When Jessica was growing up in the 1980s, her older sister was a patient at St. Jude. Unfortunately, she passed away. And as the years went by, Jessica avoided thinking and talking about her sister’s illness, not wanting to upset her parents. But then in 2020, Jessica returned to St. Jude, this time with her son Charlie.

That day, they learned Charlie had a type of bone cancer. “It was so shocking,” Jessica says. Charlie started treatment right away, and Jessica stayed with him. Visitation was restricted because of the pandemic, so they got to know St. Jude well. After months of chemotherapy and a surgery, Charlie completed treatment.

Now Jessica sees St. Jude as a place of hope. “This is like home for us because these people were with us and walked with us in these horrible times.”

Charlie says St. Jude did more than cure his cancer. “When I survived it, I feel like for my mom and for my grandparents, it was just like a full healing circle.”

Now Charlie is thinking about his future. He’s interested in becoming a research pathologist. And he got a chance to be a scientist for a day. You can watch a video of Charlie on the TODAY Show, visiting a St. Jude research lab here.

St. Jude Storied Lives is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This podcast series explores the experiences of survivors, letting you get to know the person and not just the diagnosis. St. Jude understands that every patient’s journey through treatment is unique. Listeners who have questions about their situation, diagnosis or treatment options should talk to their physician. These personal stories are not intended to provide medical advice.

Credits
Host: Joel Alsup
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Recorded by: Jason Latshaw, Nathan Black, Bobby Mitchell, Orlando Palaez and Dan Yohey

If anyone knows what it’s like to be a patient at St. Jude, Javon does. He practically grew up there. He was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 2 years old. He went through years of treatment, relapsed twice and had a bone marrow transplant. He didn’t go to a regular school until he was in sixth grade. But through it all, his charismatic personality prevailed.

Javon’s mom understood what her son was going through. She had been a patient at St. Jude when she was a kid. She had leukemia and also relapsed. A difficult situation became almost too much to bear when Javon’s younger sister was also diagnosed with leukemia while he was in treatment.

Eventually, through genomic testing, Javon’s family learned they all have a genetic mutation called a PAX5 mutation, which is known to cause a predisposition to B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and be associated with relapses. Here is more information about PAX5 and other genetic predispositions.

You can read more about Javon’s mom and sister here. All three are now doing well. And Javon made up for lost time in school. He joined several honor societies and clubs in college, and he performed with the marching band — including an appearance on College GameDay. Javon still enjoys cooking meals he loved during treatment. You can watch him making fried catfish and some of his other favorites here.

St. Jude Storied Lives is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This podcast series explores the experiences of survivors, letting you get to know the person and not just the diagnosis. St. Jude understands that every patient’s journey through treatment is unique. Listeners who have questions about their situation, diagnosis or treatment options should talk to their physician. These personal stories are not intended to provide medical advice.

Credits
Host: Joel Alsup
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Recorded by: Jason Latshaw, Nathan Black, Bobby Mitchell, Orlando Palaez and Dan Yohey

Addie grew up in a small town on the state line between Mississippi and Tennessee. It was the kind of place where everyone knew her. A whole lot more people know her now because of her budding musical career.

By the time she was in college Addie was already a seasoned performer. She sang the national anthem before big college football games and performed with country music stars.  

Donate to St. Jude: www.stjude.org/donate

Credits Host: Joel Alsup
Recorded by: Andres Garcia and Nathan Black
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Executive Producer: Louis Graham

This podcast is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Amy knows firsthand that St. Jude never gives up on its patients because she’s been a patient twice. When she was 10, Amy started to get a “blah” feeling that wouldn’t go away. She was diagnosed with leukemia. For the next two-and-a-half years, she received treatment at St. Jude. But a few years after she was declared cancer free, she had to do it all over again.

In high school, that “blah” feeling returned. She tried to will it away, but she knew the truth before tests confirmed it. That second experience with treatment was more difficult emotionally. But she found solace in fellow patients her age while she was far away from friends back home.

And while she was a patient the second time, Amy met her future husband. Now, more than 30 years after she was first diagnosed, she has two kids, and her days are filled with all of the activities that make a family.

She’s gotten what she always wished for during treatment: a wonderfully normal life.

Donate to St. Jude: www.stjude.org/donate

Credits
Host: Joel Alsup
Recorded by: Andres Garcia and Nathan Black
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Executive Producer: Louis Graham

This podcast is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Adrienne only has a few memories of her treatment for leukemia at St. Jude because she was very young when she was diagnosed. She says it was a welcoming place, where she got to spin around on doctor’s stools. But the long-term effects of chemotherapy stayed with her for years.

Adrienne struggled in school. She had trouble understanding math and fell behind in reading. St. Jude helped her get caught up by suggesting a school that could help. Making artwork relieved the anxiety she felt about school.

“When I started having issues in school, the only thing that I found that I was fairly good at was art, she says. “There was no grade, and I just found a peace with it.”

She nurtured that love of art as she got older, and she graduated with a degree in graphic design. Now, more than 40 years after treatment, Adrienne has two kids who are nearly grown up, an art studio at home, and she works to tell the story of St. Jude through patient artwork.

“I love watching them paint or color,” she says. “It just takes their mind off of whatever's ailing them that day. I love watching what they can create.”

Donate to St. Jude: www.stjude.org/donate

Credits Host: Joel Alsup
Recorded by: Andres Garcia and Nathan Black
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Executive Producer: Louis Graham

This podcast is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

When Enrique’s daughter Arianna was three, she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. Doctors gave her a year to live. But then the family came to St. Jude, where cutting-edge treatments helped her live a lot longer.

Arianna passed away two weeks before her 8th birthday. But he says those extra years together were precious. “Arianna wasn’t supposed to make it to be four, but she made it to two weeks shy of eight,” he says. “And we had those five years to make amazing memories.”

Throughout their journey, Enrique and his wife were comforted by the joyful atmosphere at St. Jude and reassured by doctors who refused to give up on their daughter.

“I don't know if we'll ever get to a place where we’ll cure childhood cancer completely,” he says. “But I think if it does ever happen, it'll happen here at St. Jude.”

Donate to St. Jude: www.stjude.org/donate

Credits Host: Joel Alsup
Recorded by: Andres Garcia and Nathan Black
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Executive Producer: Louis Graham

This podcast is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Scott loves meeting new people, and if he walked up to say hi to you today, you’d never know he has a prosthetic leg. Over 30 years ago, Scott had a type of bone cancer. Doctors at St. Jude amputated his leg below the knee.

He was a high school basketball player, and you’d understand if he was devastated. But Scott says he was at peace. He trusted the care at St. Jude and used the extra attention from classmates as way to become more outgoing.

“I was certainly more of an introvert before my cancer,” he says. “But once you have a robot leg and a bald head, everybody stares at you anyway.”

Scott also decided that he’d push himself to learn to wear his prosthetic leg very well. At first, he struggled to walk without a cane. Eventually he learned how to run again. These days, he says you’d only know about his prosthetic if he’s on the basketball court wearing shorts.

Donate to St. Jude: www.stjude.org/donate

Credits Host: Joel Alsup
Recorded by: Andres Garcia and Nathan Black
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Executive Producer: Louis Graham

This podcast is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Paula calls St. Jude the most wonderful place you never want to have to go to. Her daughter Carson was diagnosed with cancer when she was seven. The cancer metastasized to her lungs, and 16 months after she was diagnosed, Carson passed away.

“We knew that we were in for a huge journey with Carson from day one,” Paula says. Despite the tough days of treatment, there were smiles and happy times with Carson and her siblings. And Carson’s care team became a second family, offering her comfort and support.

After Carson’s death, Paula decided to join ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude. She works with patient families to tell the stories of their treatment. And she knows there’s more work to be done because not every child survives cancer.

“I think that it's hard to find the blessings in a journey of losing a child,” she says. “It’s the patient families that we get to work with, that my team works with, that is the blessing to me every day.”

Donate to St. Jude: www.stjude.org/donate

Credits Host: Joel Alsup
Recorded by: Andres Garcia and Nathan Black
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Executive Producer: Louis Graham

This podcast is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

When Emily was 16, she was an active kid, filling her days with activities after school and time with friends. But then she became lethargic. Her head felt like it would explode. Eventually, she was diagnosed with leukemia.

When she arrived at St. Jude, Emily was critically ill. Doctors recommended a cutting-edge treatment. “Ninety-nine percent of my blood was leukemia when I got here,” she says. “And then 29 days in, I'm considered in remission.”

Full recovery has been a much longer road. She has experienced depression and struggled with survivor’s guilt. In recent years, she’s focused on reclaiming the person she used to be.

She finds joy in singing and doing things outdoors, like hiking, swimming and kayaking. 

“St. Jude has made it possible that I get to live a life that not only 16-year-old Emily would have been proud of as a cancer patient,” she says. “But also 15-year-old Emily before cancer was ever even a part of my story.”

Donate to St. Jude: www.stjude.org/donate

Credits Host: Joel Alsup
Recorded by: Andres Garcia and Nathan Black
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Executive Producer: Louis Graham

This podcast is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Barry has seven kids, and he spent years as a state trooper. But nothing in life prepared him for the months he spent helping his son Luke through cancer treatment. “I just wanted to give him that strength to keep pushing through,” he says. “Let’s get through Monday on Monday. Let’s not worry about seven months from now.”

When Luke was 14, he started throwing up for no reason. It happened over and over. His parents took him to the pediatrician, to the ER, to specialists. No one could figure it out. His dad Barry knew something was really wrong and pushed for a CT scan. It showed that Luke had a brain tumor. In less than two weeks, he was at St. Jude.

Luke met the criteria for a study on medulloblastoma at St. Jude, and that’s why he was referred for treatment. You can read more about the study here.

Luke is now cancer free, and his relationship with his dad is closer than ever. And Luke is grateful for that. “One of the good things is it brought me closer to the man who basically lifted me up through all this,” he says. “And I don't think that's ever gonna go away.”

You can read more about Luke and see pictures from his days in treatment here.

And you can watch Luke and Barry trade dad jokes in this video.

St. Jude Storied Lives is a production of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This podcast series explores the experiences of survivors, letting you get to know the person and not just the diagnosis. St. Jude understands that every patient’s journey through treatment is unique. Listeners who have questions about their situation, diagnosis or treatment options should talk to their physician. These personal stories are not intended to provide medical advice.

Credits
Host: Joel Alsup
Producer: Geoffrey Redick
Editor: Grace Korzekwa Evans
Music production: Kazimir Boyle
Recorded by: Jason Latshaw, Nathan Black, Bobby Mitchell, Orlando Palaez and Dan Yohey