HOUSTON – This Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, we share the inspiring story of John, a brave two-year-old whose family vacation turned into a life-changing fight against cancer.
From Family Trip to Urgent Diagnosis
John was just about to celebrate his second birthday when he started feeling unwell during a family trip to Paris. What seemed like the flu quickly took a serious turn. At a children’s hospital overseas, John was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), a cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.
ALL causes the body to produce too many immature white blood cells, which can make it difficult to fight infections and cause symptoms like fatigue and bruising. While the diagnosis is frightening, advances in treatment have dramatically improved outcomes for children like John.
John’s father, Kyle Jungels, recalls the moment they heard the diagnosis, “When they said leukemia, I was in disbelief… It felt like a death sentence at first.”…