Until There is No More Cancer

Spencer is a fighter. He never gives up. When diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at the age of 6, he looked his mom in the eyes and said, “Mom I’m just sick, I’ll get better!” His family lives by these words, knowing he will continue to fight to get better.

Cancer was found in Spencer’s body in an unusual way. When Spencer fractured his leg and his collarbone in the same week, his mother had a feeling that something was wrong — his bones were just too fragile. Doctors initially thought that Spencer had a bone infection, but his mother insisted on a second opinion from a pediatric oncologist.

The oncologist came out in tears; she had never seen anything like it. This seemingly healthy boy had cancer. His blood was 98 percent leukemic, and he had a huge tumor of leukemia cells behind the bone in his leg.

Three months later, Spencer shaved his head with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for the very first time. He had almost no hair, and his eyelashes and eyebrows were falling out as a result of his treatment. Regardless of what little stubble was left, he shaved it all off.

Spencer has shaved every year since his diagnosis. This year marked his sixth shave, which he decided to do in honor of another child who lost his life to cancer.

“We’ve done lots of different fundraisers for cancer organizations,” says Melinda. “St. Baldrick’s is one for us that does the work that needs to be done — it’s saving our kids.”

“How long are you going to keep shaving?” his mom, Melinda, asked.

“Until there is no more cancer!” he replied. Spencer doesn’t want to see any other child have to go through what he did.

Spencer lost most of the reflexes in his legs during his treatments for childhood cancer. When his mother would ask if he needed something, Spencer would say, “Nope, I can get it. I can get it myself.” He would slide off of the couch and crab-walk across the room. Even during treatment, Spencer was resilient.

Spencer is now in remission and has been out of treatment for one year. It took almost a whole year to get his reflexes back. He was very clumsy, falling and stumbling unexpectedly as he walked. “He had lots of holes in his pants,” Melinda recalls with a smile.

Now that treatment is over, Spencer is most excited about getting to play soccer again — something this 5^th grader hasn’t been able to do since kindergarten.

“We’ve done lots of different fundraisers for cancer organizations,” says Melinda. “But when I looked deeper into where the money was going, it was shocking to see how little went to childhood cancer. St. Baldrick’s is one for us that does the work that needs to be done — it’s saving our kids.”

Read more about St. Baldrick’s Foundation research funding that helped improve ALL cure rates, helping kids just like Spencer.