In June 2023, 15-year-old Josh was attending basketball camp with his older twin brothers. When the three teens returned home, their mom, Dana, was surprised to hear that Josh was having a hard time catching his breath during practice.
“I’m a mom of three boys,” Dana says. “I’m not one to panic, but something told me to take this seriously.” She took Josh to an urgent care clinic where clinicians ran some tests and did a chest X-ray on Josh. They concluded that his lymph nodes were swollen, and he needed to be seen by his pediatrician the next day.
About a half hour after leaving urgent care, the clinician called back. “She said she spoke to her supervisor,” Dana recalls. “We needed to take Josh to UPMC Children’s right away.”
At the time of the phone call, Josh’s dad, Neil, was driving to Connecticut for work. “Dana called me hysterical,” Neil says. “I immediately turned the car around to come home. That’s… well, that’s how it all started.”
A devastating diagnosis
On June 22, 2023, oncologists at UPMC Children’s diagnosed Josh with t-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. He was quickly admitted to the hospital and started on chemotherapy.
Throughout his first phase of treatment, Josh was seen by a series of physicians and specialists. “We were really scared,” Dana says, “yet, the doctors and nurses were calming. They answered all our questions and explained things in terms we could understand.”
The family was particularly impressed by Erika Friehling, MD, Josh’s primary oncologist. “We felt an immediate emotional connection with Erika,” Dana shares. “She made us feel that things were going to be okay.”
Advancements in pediatric cancer treatment — including those made possible by donor-supported research — have greatly improved survival rates and quality of life for kids like Josh. Clinician-educators like Dr. Friehling are helping to expand the field, refine therapies through teaching and research, and offer new hope to children facing a cancer diagnosis.
Social worker Deanna Harris, MSW, connected the family to donor-funded services and other supports intended to make cancer treatment a little less stressful. “Deanna is exceptional,” Dana says. “Everyone at the hospital goes out of their way to connect with the patient and their family.”
The ups and downs of treatment
In the 15 months since Josh’s heart-wrenching diagnosis, he and his family have experienced innumerable ups and downs. Josh has had two rounds of chemotherapy, multiple blood and platelet transfusions, and several severe infections. He has faced kidney stones, countless spinal taps, and debilitating neuropathy. Yet, despite everything Josh has endured, he and his parents remain profoundly thankful for their journey with UPMC Children’s.
“In today’s world, there’s a lot of ugly, but you come here to the hospital, and you see a lot of good,” Neil says. “There’s no other place like Children’s.”
A new normal
Today, Josh is 16. He is now in the maintenance phase of treatment, which will continue through the end of 2025. He takes chemotherapy medications daily and visits the hospital twice a week for outpatient care.
“As awful and frustrating as this experience has been, it’s also been life-changing…So much good has come from this. We have this whole other family at Children’s. It’s unbelievable.”
After nearly a year and a half of treatment, Josh now has the energy to do the things he loves, like cooking and golfing. His family shares that things are finally starting to feel a little more normal, albeit forever changed from how they once were. “As awful and frustrating as this whole experience has been,” Dana says, “it’s also been life-changing. Josh started treatment as this quiet, reserved kid. Now, he’s a different person.”
Here, Dana pauses for a moment before continuing. “I wish we never met any of those people at Children’s,” she shares in closing. “But I’m eternally grateful for each and every one of them.”
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