02/10/2026
Five years ago today, this sweet boy was diagnosed with cancer. I️ remember every detail of the day still. We arrived to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital after his bloodwork came back abnormal. Within minutes of arriving, Dr. Eslin, an oncologist and good friend of Chase and Tali’s pediatrician, came into the room, introduced himself, collected bloodwork, and minutes later came back to deliver the news that Chase had leukemia. I️ punched the wall, slid down it and cried harder than I️ ever cried before. Nothing in Chase’s life was really easy before that — being born premature, living with Down syndrome and all things that come with Down syndrome, having asthma, heart defects, and various surgeries, only to then have him diagnosed with the most life altering and life threatening thing of all, cancer.
Almost 3 years of cancer treatment, horrible side effects and coming extremely close to losing him has changed my life in almost every way you can imagine. A mixture of pain and faith has followed me throughout this journey, and as a mom, there really is a different kind of torture of watching helplessly as your child fights cancer but what I️ realized in the midst of losing myself while Chase fought cancer, was Chase’s love for life even during his hardest, sickest days. The smile he gave, hugs he offered every single person, the way he would dance during chemo, the way he would still laugh without knowing the seriousness of his illness, while I️ was broken inside. Chasing Life became his cancer journeys motto but it became a life lesson for me. Chase taught me to live life in ways I️ wasn’t before —even through the uncertainty, the anger and the unfairness of cancer. Here we are five years later, and I️ am able to take what Chase has taught me; what cancer forced me to see, what it tried to take from me but what my son so bravely protected through his own joy for living, and I’m able to finally give other children like him, and parents like me, a chance to get through cancer, and a shot at chasing life one day at a time too.
Today, Chase is 9 years old and is in 1st grade. He is monitored every 3 months to ensure he’s still in remission. He has fought through over two years of chemo, over 15 rounds of pneumonia and over 300 days admitted to the hospital. He’s made it through an invasive fungal infection on his liver, kidneys, lungs, spleen and heart, he’s endured countless days and nights of being in pain, has had chemo through his spine numerous times and sadly the list goes on and on, but with that — he’s also braved every single hard day that’s came his way, he’s laughed as often as he could, started every day with a smile, and ended it with a hug. He’s made friends, learned so many new things, and has truly embraced every single day of life in all his Chase-like ways. His purpose is and always will be more than a Down syndrome or cancer diagnosis shows. His purpose is to make the world better and to make the life of those who know him better. This day no longer means fear for me. It means a chance to do more and help others, all for a little boy who is just happy to be here still and to be “chasing life”, so please please please help us honor Chase by helping kids just like him and giving them a reason to chase life too!
All donations go directly to children battling life threatening illnesses at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital
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