We’re shining a light on Childhood Cancer Awareness Month again this week! This time we Zoom with a special young man, Jaxon, and his parents, Jason and Shay, who have fought hard and put trust in the process since a cancer diagnosis in December 2019. He’s been through knee surgeries, lung surgery, and chemotherapy treatments — more than any 12-year-old should have to experience.
Jaxon doesn’t want other patients to feel lonely. He’s a cheerleader for others on his sports teams. He likes to make others smile and laugh. Jaxon’s message is to stay strong and “trust the process.” We can all draw inspiration from Jaxon, Shay, and Jason as they lean in and stay positive.
Enjoy our chat with Jaxon and his parents, and explore other episodes of Hustle & Pro.
Show Notes
- [00:33] Jaxon’s story & message
- [2:26] How Jaxon makes others smile
- [3:00] Relationships and family
- [6:45] Jaxon’s sports: track and soccer (and tennis one day!)
- [9:10] Cancer chose the wrong kid
- [11:24] Message to parents
- [12:36] Support from Children’s Health
Resources within this episode:
- Jaxon’s Family on Facebook @jaxthegreat
- Children’s Health: Website | Facebook @Childrens | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn | Give For Frisco
- Kelly Walker: Instagram: @kelly_walkertexas | Twitter: @kelly_walker_TX
Connect with Lifestyle Frisco:
Transcript: (machine-generated)
Welcome to Hustle and Pro season two, talking sports in Frisco from youth to pro. Now here’s your host Kelly Walker.
Kelly:
Welcome to Hustle & Pro. Today we have a VIP guest. Jaxon is one of the youngest athletes that we’ve talked to, but I hope you’ll agree that his positivity and fight is unforgettable and big. In fact, his favorite athlete is Dez Bryant. He loves watching basketball and football. He plays soccer and he runs track. He also wants to learn how to play tennis and his favorite sports movie is Kicking and Screaming starring Will Ferrell. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. So we wanted to feature Jaxon’s story on this episode to explain what he and his family had been going through and so that we can all learn a little bit more from them. So Jaxon’s mom, Shay is here to give us a quick rundown on what the last nine months have looked like for their family since they got Jaxon’s diagnosis in December of 2019.
Shay:
We started this journey in December, right before Christmas. He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, which affects the bone, the joint of the bones and immediately we started chemo, we started treatment right away. So he’s gone through a couple of surgeries. He had to have a total knee replacement on his right leg first. Um, and then because the cancer had already spread to his lungs, he had to have a surgery on his left lung, and then we’ll have to have one more surgery on the right lung. Um, but lots of chemo, lots of therapy and treatment. He began physical therapy kind of pretty much so right after he had the first knee replacement. Um, but I would say he has, I mean, made leaps and bounds through this. He has just ran his way, like he was running towards the finish line, um, trying to try to beat this. And we’re almost there. We’re almost there.
Kelly:
That’s a lot, Jaxon. That’s a lot of surgeries and procedures and treatments. It’s probably, you know, your life that you were used to probably changed a hundred percent right away, right. With all the different treatments and everything. So what is your attitude? What do you feel like and what kind of things do you like to tell people about you and your journey?
Jaxon:
Stay strong?
Kelly:
Yeah. I’ve heard people talk about, um, that you like to spread positivity. Like when you’re in a hospital, getting treatments and, and recovering that you make people laugh. So what are some of the things that you do to put a smile on people’s faces?
Jaxon:
Um maybe I can make them laugh and make a stick man and pass them up to kids so they don’t feel alone.
Kelly:
Oh, cool. I also heard there’s a, I think I say this word, right. You probably know how to say big medical words better than I do, but a phlebotomist that you guys have become friends with at your hospital or one of the places that you get treatment. Do you know what I’m talking about?
Jaxon:
Ms. Sharon.
Kelly:
Ms. Sharon. Tell me about Ms. Sharon.
Jaxon:
She’s nice and funny. She’s also really, really strict and supports me.
Kelly:
That’s sweet. So parents, Shay and Jason, when you are, I know I’m not saying looking back yet, cause I know you are still in this fight and going through this process, but when you look at it, what are some of the, do you have also relationships that you guys have built that you will look back on and cherish through through this experience?
Shay:
We’ve had tons of support from family, friends, friends of friends, people that we don’t even know, my husband’s job, um, we’ve just had such an outpour of love from the community as a whole, during this situation. I mean more, more than I could even mention. Um, and we are so grateful for some of the new relationships that have formed throughout this process. We’ve met some great other, some great people that have a foundations like the Brandon MacPherson foundation, um, met some ladies there and they instantly reached out to our family and it was like anything that we can do to support. And the hospital itself, Ms. Sharon like Jaxon mentioned. She’s so sweet. Um, very supportive to us. Lots of encouragement. I remember when I first met her, you know, she said, it’s not going to be easy, but you stay strong, mama. And that’s what I’ve had to do. You know, there’ve been hard days. I can say my husband can definitely say the same. Um, but we pushed through because we had such great support.
Kelly:
You have four boys? Yes? Yes. So Jaxon, um, do, do your siblings, do your brothers also play sports too?
Jaxon:
They all play sports.
Kelly:
They all play sports. So would you say you guys are a sports family? Kind of. Dad Jason, do you think you guys are a sporty family?
Jason:
Definitely. What is that old saying, faith, family and football.
Kelly:
Faith, family, football. Proof that you live in Texas, right? Yes. So we are a sports family also and that’s something that, you know, having our kids play sports, it’s a big part of our life as a family, things that we go do together, a lot of it does revolve around sports. What are some of the things that like, so are your other boys football players, or do they have a lot of different sports that they play too.
Jason:
Well football track and basketball. We pretty much play soccer and basketball at the PSA in Plano and the boys play football here in Frisco. Go Centennial.
Kelly:
Okay. Centennial. We’ll be facing you guys I’m sure here pretty soon. So Jaxon you like to run track and play soccer, right? And tennis that’s right. I forgot. So I was curious about running track. I mean, usually track doesn’t start until you’re in seventh grade and that’s when you start running track. Had you already been running track kind of earlier than that and you got the jump on that sport?
Jaxon:
Right, I guess yeah.
Kelly:
What’s your favorite thing to, to run?
Jaxon:
100, I guess.
Kelly:
Oh, so you’re, you’re fast and quick. Sprinter.
Shay:
He doesn’t like the 400. He doesn’t like the distance running. He just wants to get it over with.
Kelly:
Same here. And then, um, so soccer you’ve played soccer awhile. I bet. Huh? Yes Ma’am. What position do you play in soccer?
Shay:
All over really.
Kelly:
What’s your favorite? Like do you like if it was up to you and the coach said, all right, what do you want to play today? Do you want to go play on defense or be back there in the goal? Or do you want to go score or do you like being in the middle where you can sort of distribute?
Jaxon:
It depends where he puts me.
Jason:
But what’s your favorite? Where would you like to play?
Jaxon:
Cause I don’t know where.
Shay:
Any of them. He just likes to play.
Kelly:
Move, get out there and move. So I have heard that, maybe it was you Shay that I read this or heard this from, but that you describe Jaxon as a natural born leader. So do you see that, like in your sports Jaxon, do you feel like you like to be somebody that your teammates count on and look up to? Yes. You do.
Shay:
He’s like a cheerleader supporting everybody.
Jaxon:
Or like a mascot I guess.
Kelly:
Yeah. Maybe a mascot is good because you see like maybe sometimes you get, are you quiet sometimes, but yet you still want to be like cheer, cheer everybody on. Right. That’s fantastic. I love that. I also saw that you might’ve said, I don’t know who said this. Y’all tell me about this quote that I read. One of y’all said that you may have cancer, but cancer doesn’t have you. What do you mean by that, that it doesn’t have you?
Jaxon:
It chose the wrong kid I guess. Like, yeah, chose the wrong kid.
Kelly:
Like it doesn’t have control over you. Right? You still get to choose. I feel like you are choosing your attitude and you are choosing how you’re going to respond and be, you know, be you and be happy.
Shay:
You know, through all of this I think anybody that has come in contact with Jaxon that knows Jaxon always says he always has a smile on his face. You know, you can’t tell how bad he’s feeling, even if he’s having a bad day, because he’s always smiling and just his, his empathy and his concern for everybody else and wanting to make sure that everyone else is okay. Um, so that love that he just has for everyone and that smile that he and it’s, it’s so long lasting and it leaves such a lasting impression on everyone that he encounters.
Kelly:
I mean, that’s huge what you’ve said that like, he wants to make sure everyone else is okay when he’s the patient and kind of at the center of all this, but you’re still, Jaxon, you’re still like, you know, wanting to take care of everybody and make sure everybody else is doing okay. That means you have a big heart, right.
Jaxon:
I do have a big heart.
Kelly:
Aw. So Shay. Um, you know we’re talking to you specifically because it’s September and it is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Um, I mean a year ago at this time you probably didn’t think this was something you’d need to be paying that much attention to, or that you’d be sitting here talking to somebody about. Right. So what do you, you know, what do you say looking out at other people that we’re just living our busy, crazy 2020 life, but, um, you know, as this month has meant to spread awareness, like now having the voice to talk about it from somebody going through it, what do you say to people?
Shay:
I would say, um, for me, I’ve all, but one of our slogans that we’ve come up with, and that we’ve said through all of this is trust the process. Um, it’s scary when you first hear it, you know, you’re flooded with emotions and feelings and just don’t know how to feel about everything. Um, we know that one of the things I would say is we know that God can’t put any more on us than we can bear, and we have been able to sustain and just because of our faith, and know that we can get through this and that Jaxon is going to get through this because he’s already made so many leaps and bounds. When we look back, you know, nine months ago, we didn’t think we would be sitting here, you know, and almost at the end of his, his therapy, he was told that we have a week left of chemotherapy and one more surgery. And so in hindsight, you’re like, I didn’t think we would be here. So we’ve just trusted this process and have gotten, gotten this far.
Kelly:
You said this earlier too, but you know, you have to give credit, I know that your positive attitude, Jaxon, makes a huge difference and your mom and your dad’s positive attitude and all the support people around you. That is like its own medicine. Right. But, um, it’s probably also amazing when you see how smart and effective these medical providers are. Like you said, the process, um, thank goodness that the process has been laid out for you and that people, we have really good resources here, I think, right. That people are, you’re in good hands. Yes. Um, Children’s and I’m sure you’ve been in more, more facilities than you probably ever expected to be at this point, but, um, you know, we’re, I think that’s part of this awareness initiative is, right, to let people know that we have to keep providing donations so that these facilities can keep getting the research done to make advances and strides so that the next kid and family who gets diagnosed will have a good path and a better road to recovery quicker. Right?
Shay:
Right. You know, you know, Children’s really sheds a lot of light on national, North Texas Giving Day. And again, a year ago, it didn’t cross my mind as much. And as we sit here going through this, I can’t help, but to spread awareness and tell and talk about it because it needs to be talked about because it’s what’s required is that people need to donate. It’s a requirement I feel. We spend so much money on unnecessary things on a daily basis, a cup of Starbucks. Hey, I’m guilty cause I love Starbucks, nothing against them, but we spend money on things like that, where there is money needed and donations needed to go towards the advancement of research for a cure hopefully one day. You know, I don’t want another parent to have to have the news that I had to change my life in the matter of 24 hours. Um, so if, if we can come together as a community, as a whole and support one another, um, that’s what North Texas Giving Day is about.
Jason:
I’d just like to say the journey, uh we never can prepare for what life may bring to us. So we take every day as a journey or a leaping step to get better, to better ourselves and to become better people, uh, in this world and society. And, and, um, as far as the kids are concerned, we are here for them. Uh, everything that we do is for the kids and, um, without the donations and everything, and Children’s and we don’t know where we would be at this point. So we thank God for one for giving us the faith and the strength to, um, to make it through, to bring us here. And, and we’re almost at the end of the line. So we’re being strong and keeping our faith and wanting to pass it on for the other families that may have to deal with any type of cancer or childhood illness, uh, which no kid should ever have to go through. Um, so that’s what we’re staying strong for.
Kelly:
Right. I noticed that you said, um, you know, it’s to it’s to be better. One of the things at the beginning you said is to kind of be better on the other side of this. So Jaxon, my last question for you is, you know, this is hard, but do you think going through all of this, do you think somehow this is going to make you a better Jaxon and how do you think that might be working?
Kelly:
Say that last part again. I just didn’t hear you.
Jaxon:
Stay strong and brave.
Kelly:
Well, I am so glad that I got to meet you even just on zoom. It was fun to talk to you and learn your story and thanks to you, Shay and Jason. Thank you for having us. I know y’all have a busy life right now, so it’s probably not easy to stop and sit and do these these meetings, but I appreciate it. Thank you.
Shay:
You are so welcome. Anything just to spread awareness and get it out there. Absolutely. Thanks for having us.
Kelly:
And thank you for listening to this episode of Hustle & Pro. Childrens.com has more information on how you can get involved and help. You can also follow Children’s Health on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
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