Jesse

Jesse Walker is my son. My husband Duane and I adopted Jesse when he turned 12 months.

Jesse was diagnosed with Acute Myloid Leukemia (AML) on October 6, 2010, one day after we moved to Bend.

To this day I still could not tell you how I got to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Or. All I remember is the Dr. at St. Charles Hospital said is to get Jesse there right away.

Jesse woke up on Oct. 6, 2010 with a temperature of 104.2. We immediately got him to St. Charles Hospital in Bend.We were told to get Jesse to Doernbecher Children's Hospital ASAP!

We arrived at Doernbecher at about 7:15 pm. The nurses and docs were super. I remember laying in my bed that night like many other nights wondering what are we doing here??? It was all so sureel. As a parent of a small child. I did not allow myself to show emotions but happy, loving and inspiring. Jesse was a very sick little man and we went through seven long months of chemo. The days and nights were very long and I saw so much pain not only with my little guy but with so many other kiddos and their parents.

I have always believed in our Lord and prayed daily but this onset of Cancer to Jesse just made me pray more and asked others to pray for my child. Jesse is now 11 months in remission but continues to have issues with lymphnodes. My hope is that he will grow up to be a strong man with a very long and happy life.

My concerns for Jesse remain very strong and the pain of losing so many innocent children to the horrible disease called childhood cancer never leaves me. The loss of so many children is such heavy load and so many people in our country just don't have a clue!

Jesse loves his shoes much that he has worn them every day since he received them. I won't allow him to sleep with them so he puts his shoes on top of his dresser so no one tries to wear them as he says! You have given my little man a great gift in the shoes. I wished you would have seen the look on his face when he saw them. AWESOME!!!! He looked at me and asked "Are they for me." 

He just couldn't someone besides us would give him such a great gift of love.

Hayden

On December 3, 2010, Hayden was diagnosed with leukemia. It was a complete shock and turned our world upside down, he's such a happy little boy.

Here's how we found out! We were taking him to his pediatrician for a consult, because he was having tremors in his hands. The morning of his appointment, he spiked a fever of 102.6... so when we got to his doc, she ran what virus test she could in her office, and it all came back negative. So she sent us to the hospital to have his blood drawn. We went back to her office and waited for the results. She finally got his white blood cell count after they closed, and it was normal. The doc called me at 9:00 that night with the rest of the results, and his red blood cell count and platelet count were both really low. She wanted us to come back to the office the next morning for more blood work and she would talk to the pathologist. When we got there, she came in the exam room after speaking with the pathologist, and told us that he has leukemia.

And now we're on the journey to recovery, because we ARE NOT going to give up!

Hanna

Thirteen-year-old fan Hana Hwang suffers from a fatal genetic disorder called progeria, a rare genetic condition that causes children to age eight to ten times faster than the average person and shortening their life expectancy considerably.

Levi

This little guy might not have verbal language, his legs are a little shaky, and he cannot hear...but this little guy has a smile that can light up the night sky and a beaming personality that is intoxicating. He is inspiring! He used very expressive sign language to show us and to tell us how excited he was to receive his super special PNF shoes and how much he loved them. We changed his world with those shoes, but little does he know, he change ours.

Meet Levi... He is a 6 year old who likes to sign his name, trucks with trailers, and trains. Two years ago he had very little language and could not walk. He is deaf and has Cerebral Palsy. Today, he can take about 50 unassisted steps and is fluent in sign language. He is a loving and resilient kiddo...hope the shoes keep that stride strong. Stay tuned for news clip of shoe delivery :)