TOLEDO, Ohio — Cancer has proven to be an obstacle, not a diagnosis that defines who Brooke is or what she has overcome.
“If you can believe in yourself you can believe in everything," Brooke, who has beat the odds and defeated pediatric cancer, said on a recent visit to her favorite place in Toledo, the Imagination Station.
Born and raised in the Toledo area, Brooke and her family credit the life-saving research and the world-class medical care at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for saving Brooke’s life.
Brooke's mom, Christy, knows how precious these moments are to her and the family and gives her daily gratitude to St. Jude and the Toledo community that supported Brooke through her diagnosis of cancer.
Cancer almost robbing a young child of their life, words and a journey that no parent ever expects to endure.
“When Brookelynn was 13 months old she started vomiting. I had taken her to the doctor. They had said it was the flu. I proceeded to take her to two more hospitals trying to get answers because you can tell the difference between your child being ill and something that just is not right," Christy said.
What followed was the diagnosis that sent the world crumbling.
“We were at Toledo Hospital when they said it was a brain tumor, I remember just falling to my knees like nothing mattered, I can't even explain it. Everything felt numb and cold and really no hope at that point," Christ said.
It was the diagnosis of a rare brain tumor — atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor, also known as AT/RT — that has a survival rate of less than 10%.
The very next day, Brooke had a stroke. She was transported to Toledo Hospital and then taken by air ambulance to the Cleveland Clinic.
Brooke had become unresponsive due to the brain tumor, which was removed through emergency brain surgery. But this aggressive cancer required much more, and hope came by a phone call. St. Jude contacted Christy with an open invitation for Brooke.
Christy recalls that phone call: “St. Jude had called us and said you don't have time for her to heal. She needs to start treatment right away. That is when we decided the next day to pack up and drive 12 hours. It's when her journey began. Which was an amazing decision.”
Any child with a diagnosis of cancer is openly accepted at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and never pays a penny for the medical treatment, travel, housing or food. St. Jude often takes on the most aggressive forms of cancer and offers one important thing immediately: Hope.
Surrounded by the world's best pediatric cancer research, doctors and nurses worked against the odds to save Brooke.
The dream of Toledo’s Danny Thomas helped this local family nearly 60 years after the doors were opened. Still to this day, no family ever pays.
When asked if she received medical bills, Christy said, “No, not once.”
She paused with a smile of gratitude and said it was a burden lifted off her shoulders.
"There are families that do struggle that have to quit their jobs and worry about medical bills," she said. "It is fact that St. Jude is the only hospital that never bills any family or child and that is true to this day.”
After almost a year of inpatient care, St. Jude sent Brooke home to Toledo, coordinating the remaining six months of oral chemo back home. It was all covered and under protocols by St. Jude, which sent all her medication via the mail and did all her local checkups in Toledo.
The connection to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital remains strong for Brooke and her family, as it's almost a second home.
Christy says they continue to go back to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital once a year for her checkups, all covered by St. Jude for life. In addition, Brooke has actually volunteered to do some studies for St. Jude to help find cures for her cancer and conduct other research.
This June, Brooke was back at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for her regular check-up, forever a part of the St. Jude family.
But why is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital so special to Brooke?
“It changed my life because I really thought I wasn’t going to make it.," she said.
Brooke continues to enjoy the Imagination Station, where she explores her love for science in her hometown. On the verge of her 18th birthday, she has her whole life ahead of her.
The mission to find the cure — Danny Thomas’ dream — is still so powerful. Brooke knows firsthand what the battle against cancer is like and the impact it can have on families.
“I just hate seeing kids sick because when I was little, my mom went through a lot," she said. "I just feel bad for the other parents and I want to help them."
Brooke's dream is a second calling to go back to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, this time to do more to help.
She is currently a student at PENTA Career Center with the desire to one day work in medical technology and return to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to work as a nurse and help other kids in need.
“St. Jude is like my second house. It is like a home to me," she said. I want to figure out how to be there for others when I am there and I told my mom when I graduate nursing school I want to go there and actually work.”
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Your support can make a difference in the lives of kids across the globe and right here in Toledo, just like Brooke.
For just $100, you can reserve your chance to win the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway and further the mission of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Toledo's own Danny Thomas.
Reserve your tickets by calling 1-800-831-7061 or texting JUDE to 419-248-1100.