Warrior Wednesday Spotlight - #JocelynStrong
Jocelyn Croxen was Campaign One At A Time's 44th campaign kid who dreams of becoming a Paleontologist.
Jocelyn was diagnosed with T-cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia at the age of 7 years old on September 6th 2019. The first 24 days of diagnoses was spent inpatient where Jocelyn was getting chemotherapy almost daily to bring her into remission and the start of her 2 1/2 year battle. During the course of Jocelyn's journey she went through 861 days of treatments, 22 lumbar punctures, 112 port access, 3 bone aspirations, 21 blood transfusions, 126 days of steroids, 65 days inpatient, 11 different types of chemo-therapies and 7 chemo holds but she never lost hope. Jocelyn proved over and over again that kids fighting cancer where not the same even if they were diagnosed with the same cancer. In the coarse of the 2 ½ years of treatment Jocelyn proved time and time again that she was not a textbook case, she became allergic to 4 different antibiotics, 1 chemo, IVIG and to platelets. She also had to have her chemotherapy treatments modified during maintenance from once a month clinic chemo treatments to once a week due to a gene that was found after her mom pushed for testing. Jocelyn finally rang the bell on January 11th 2022 signifying the end of treatment and being cancer free.
During Jocelyn's maintenance cycles of therapy Campaign One At A Time came to Jocelyn to see if she had any dreams they could fulfill. All Jocelyn wanted was to see where the dinosaurs roamed and to be with her family but because this was during the middle of the COVID pandemic it made Jocelyn's options very limited but that didn't stop Campaign One At A Time from coming up with the most amazing solution to keeping Jocelyn safe. Campaign One At A Time decided that the best idea would be to send Jocelyn, her best friend and family on a 13 day RV road trip to the Dinosaur National Monument. The trip took them through 4 states, 2 National Parks, 4 State Parks and many amazing adventures that was a chance of a lifetime that will be memories forever cherished. Since Jocelyn’s trip her family has been to 2 of Campaign One At A Time’s Galas, helped cut the ribbon for the opening of Spread Good HQ and the best part, has met some amazing Campaign One At A Time families that they now call family.
Through it all Jocelyn and her family have felt the need to help others by giving back to the childhood cancer community. Jocelyn was the 2021 Girl of the Year for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of San Diego and her mom was a part of the Man and Woman of the Year for LLS in 2022. Jocelyn has done numerous lemonade stands, flower stands, hot coco stands and has even thrown an epic pool party to raise money to send a child on a dream trip. Between Jocelyn and her family, they’ve raised and given back to childhood cancer organizations well over $100,000. Jocelyn’s mom Tracy even became a part of the Campaign One At A Time as the Family Enrichment Director to help bring a bit of joy to families going through the most difficult times of their lives.
The time off treatment hasn't been easy for Jocelyn, it's been a roller-coaster of unknowns. Jocelyn has significant low bone density due to chemotherapy and steroids. She also developed a small swollen lymph node in the same location from when she was originally diagnosed that her medical team says is stable, along with a drop in platelets that has now recovered into normal range. Jocelyn also did 6 months of physical therapy to help strengthen her ankles and drop foot symptoms from chemotherapy. Jocelyn is now dealing with an ongoing low T-cell count which she is in the process of being tested. Low T-cells can signal a range of problems affecting your immune system including ongoing viral infections, immunodeficiency disorders, autoimmune disorders, leukemia or lymphoma. T-cells are the body's defense system to protect you from colds, virus's and diseases which intern makes Jocelyn’s immune system very compromised. Chemotherapy also knocked out 4 of Jocelyn's childhood vaccinations and because of her low T-cell count she is unable to have any live culture vaccinations redone until her T-cell count is within normal range. Through all of the unknowns Jocelyn is thriving. She is making leaps and bounds in school, playing club soccer, enjoying her busy social life with friends, planning lemonade stands to help make dreams come true for other kids fighting cancer and the best part, making up for the lost time that cancer stole from her.
Jocelyn and her family have used social media to help bring awareness and hope to other families going through childhood cancer. If you would like to follow along Jocelyn’s journey you can find her on Instagram at @Jocelyns_Leukemia_journey