Jon Brent shares his story of surviving acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer. He was diagnosed at age two. Jon had to undergo an aggressive chemotherapy regimen, which included vincristine, dexamethasone, methotrexate and prednisone; but that wasn’t enough, because he also had to face a bone marrow transplant. Between his diagnosis and his treatment, Jon has been in pain all his life, and expects to always be in pain. Nonetheless, he approaches life with a smile and happily takes part in ultimate Frisbee and playing the drums.

Jon Brent of Windsor, Ontario, Canada was an energetic toddler, then suddenly in 1995 he became unaccountably lethargic. His parents sought medical attention. Blood work revealed very high white blood cell counts, which led to his diagnosis of acute lymphblastic leukemia. Jon was told his type of cancer has a very low survival rate.

Doctors prescribed three years of experimental chemotherapy protocols. The medications he took included vincristine, dexamethasone, methotrexate and prenisone. Unfortunately, after those three years, Jon relapsed and had to undergo a bone marrow transplant. Jon was grateful that unlike bone marrow transplants from an earlier time, much of his procedure was executed with a pill. That said, byproducts of the transplant were shingles, chicken pox and Stage IV Graft Versus Host Disease, which affected his stomach, liver, skin and lungs.

As if cancer wasn’t tough enough, Jon Brent had to deal with it while going to elementary school, where kids can be cruel. However, Jon credits his mother with teaching him how to “self-regulate” and how to deflect the inevitable barbs from his classmates.

By way of advice, Jon Brent reminds anyone diagnosed with cancer that they are not alone. He says the grief from a cancer diagnosis is non-linear. It comes with sadness, some anger and a lot of questions. Jon says one doesn’t have to endure a setback and pretend it doesn’t hurt. He says everyone on a cancer journey can and should be on a team.

Additional Resources:

Support Groups:

Man Up to Cancer: https://www.manuptocancer.org

Childhood Cancer Canada: https://www.childhoodcancer.ca