Jackson Hoeger

When Jackson Hoeger's well-behaved, happy demeanor began to disappear, his mother, Jennifer, was worried. When the kindergartener's teacher noticed a dramatic change in his handwriting, Jennifer was really worried. She and her husband, Marty, took Jackson to a specialist, but test results appeared normal. The next day, Jackson exhibited stroke-like symptoms and was rushed to the emergency room, where he experienced a long seizure — the first of many he would have in the coming weeks and months. That evening, Jackson had an MRI, but it, too, showed nothing unusual. "Over the next few weeks, Jackson saw several doctors, all of whom had different opinions as to what was causing his symptoms," says Jennifer. After Jackson experienced another major seizure, one of his physicians believed he might have epilepsy. The Hoegers traveled to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion. At Mayo, Jackson underwent six weeks of testing. When the results were in, Jackson was diagnosed with disseminated primitive neuroectodermal tumor. The tumors can be difficult to detect with conventional scanning methods. Jackson then began his long journey to recovery, which included high-dose chemotherapy and radiation treatments. A little more than a year after Jackson's symptoms began, the Hoegers finally received some good news — an MRI showed Jackson's tumor had not grown and, in fact, was improving. "Throughout this whole experience, we really appreciated everyone at Mayo — we were like a team working together," says Jennifer. "They let us be part of the plan. They asked what we thought. They also made decisions by considering Jackson himself, even though those decisions might have gone against a protocol. We felt comfortable asking questions, and they went out of their way and helped us through this."