JUNE LANHAM

Jul 27

#JUNESFIGHT

GOAL MET!

June is a 5 year old from Tellico Plains, TN and we’re on a mission to raise
$5,000 to send June and her family on a dream trip to Disney World
& Give Kids The World Village
where they can make amazing memories together OUTSIDE of the hospital!

“June was diagnosed at 3 years old in February 2020. It started in the fall of 2019. She started having balance issues, difficulty walking, etc. Her pediatrician thought it was something with her gait and referred us to a specialist who recommended physical therapy and a leg brace. She didn’t seem to be getting any better and then her eyes started to dart and it seemed like she had a lazy eye. We went back to the pediatrician who then said it may be hereditary because my husband has a lazy eye. She recommended June get her eyes checked, and said she may need glasses. On February 16th, 2020, June had said her head hurt. We thought it was odd because she had never in her life complained of a headache. Later that day, she said it again. My husband and I had a gut feeling and rushed her to our local Children’s Hospitals ER. There they did a CT scan which revealed two large tumors. One on her brain stem and the other towards the top of her brain. An MRI later revealed several more smaller tumors in her brain and up and down her spine, which meant her cancer had already spread. She had the tumor on her brain stem removed 4 days later because that was the tumor causing all her issues, it was cutting off the spinal fluid. We were so lucky to have found it when we did because that alone could have killed her. She’s had so many rounds of chemo and she did 6 weeks of radiation. None of that did anything to her tumors and they are all still there. Getting the news that she had cancer was on another level. Nobody ever expects that from their child. They never said cancer at first, just tumors but I guess they thought we could put two and two together.
We had two other children at home and we bounced them from family member to family member for the first two weeks before my husband and I had to split time at the hospital. It was also the start of Covid so hospital policies changed and only one parent was permitted to stay over night at a time. We were thrust in to the world of childhood cancer so quickly. We knew nothing about it and honestly didn’t think much about kids that had cancer other than if we saw a St. Jude commercial. June has always been such a sweet, funny, musical and headstrong little girl. That definitely has helped her so much through her journey. The trauma that’s been done to her brain has caused her to be a little bit slower intellectually than other kids her age. She still suffers from issues walking, keeping her balance, and her coordination is off. When she was in treatment, she missed out on so much because you have to be as cautious as possible so your child doesn’t get sick. Especially if their counts are low, a common cold could kill them. Combined with covid, it made doing things with her very hard. My husband and I had lost our jobs we had both had for a while because we ran out of FMLA to use just to be with her in the hospital and during treatment. We both think time with her is more important than anything. Jobs come and go but we could never get that time back. During treatment, our family was split up so much and so we really do cherish every second we all get to spend together.

Going to Disney would really be the trip of a lifetime. None of us have ever been and I feel like we would make so many memories and June would have a blast. She loves princesses and Disney as much as the next little girl and we just feel beyond blessed to even get this chance. A parent should never have to cram a lifetime of experiences in to a short amount of time with their child, but sometimes it just works out that way and we have to make the most out of the time we are given. “

- Ciara and Joey Lanham