Meet Jensen Lee

Jensen is a kind, compassionate, and loving 8-year-old boy who loves dirt bikes, animals, and baseball. He lives in Missouri with his parents, Cassie and Taylor, his older brother, Jack, and younger sister, Charlie.

While Jensen has lived a typical life, things took an unexpected turn this past year.

In February 2021, Jensen started experiencing digestive issues. After receiving x-rays and going to a nutritionist, the family was finally referred to an allergist. The tests revealed that Jensen had alpha gal syndrome, an allergy that causes an autoimmune disorder that is brought on by a lone-star tick bite.

Jensen’s mom, Cassie shares, “The lone-star tick is typically found on the east coast, but there has been a new epidemic happening in our region. He is now allergic to animal bi-products, but there is a chance he can grow out of it within 8 months to 5 years.”

After receiving the news, the family starts to navigate life with Jensen’s new allergies. September comes around and Jensen starts to experience some swollen lymph nodes under his neck.

Cassie shares, “We assumed it was an allergic reaction. The next day at school, the nurse let us know that Jensen’s lymph nodes were continuing to bother him. When he got home, I noticed that not only were there not two of them, but they had also doubled in size. At the time, he felt fine and didn’t have a fever but a family member suggested that we take Jensen to get checked out.”

Cassie and Taylor take Jensen to an urgent care and all the blood panels came back fine. Just when the family was about to be released, the doctor walked in and explained that the pathologist was finding some abnormalities in Jensen’s cells.

The couple took Jensen to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri the next morning for further testing. Monday morning came around, and the couple received a call no parent wants to experience. The tests confirmed that Jensen had leukemia and within the hour, they were accepted into St. Jude in Memphis, Tennessee.

The next day, Jensen had surgery and a spinal tap to ensure that the cancer was not in the spinal membrane. During that time, they also went ahead and did a round of chemo directly into the spinal fluids.

By Wednesday, doctors were able to confirm what type of cancer Jensen had. There are two types of leukemia, and tests confirmed that Jensen has B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).

Reflecting on that time, Cassie shares, “It was a lot. In a matter of one week, our entire lives had changed. We were at St. Jude’s for a week, and it was difficult because at the time, Jensen was still feeling fine and didn’t understand what was going on. At first Taylor and I were hesitant about how much to tell Jensen, but at the end of the day, we decided it was necessary to have the difficult conversation. Jensen is the one having to go through it. He’s the one who must receive the treatment and experience the side-effects. Leaving him out of the loop just didn’t seem beneficial.”

The family now lives in a housing near St. Jude in Memphis while Jensen receives his treatment. The first couple of weeks were somewhat “easy”, receiving treatment every Wednesday along with a lot of bloodwork and tests. On October 21st, Jensen started receiving more aggressive treatment that consists of 6 hours of chemo for 4 straight days.

“All of this is still so new for our family and especially for Jensen. He must take daily steroids and is starting to feel weaker. Walking long distances has begun to be difficult for Jensen. Everyone at St. Jude has been so fantastic. They remind us that this will all pass and even though it will get hard, we are not alone.”

When thinking about the future, Cassie shares that they are praying and believing in full recovery. It will be a long road; for the next 5 years, Jensen will be in and out of St. Jude to make sure the cancer doesn’t come back. If there are no signs of it coming back after 5 years, Jensen will officially be considered cured.

Time to get loud shouters!

Throughout the month of November we will be shouting loud for Jensen!

So click here to shop now where every purchase in November will be used to help cover the costs of travel and housing expenses for Jensen Lee’s treatments.

To help support kiddos like Jensen every month, click here to start a monthly subscription.