Skip to main content
Get Care MyChart Find a Provider Find a Location

Jedi journey involves more obstacles than any child should ever face.

In April 2020, as the COVID-19 virus spread across the world, Jedi was at home suffering from a climbing fever and abdominal pain.

After a series of negative tests, doctors at Gundersen’s La Crosse Hospital discovered the cause: Stage 4 Peripheral Mature T-Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma with a Leukemia component, a rare form of childhood cancer.

“We were blindsided by our son’s diagnosis,” says his mother, Dianna.

A care team led by Jennifer Orozco, MD, joined Jedi’s journey. He underwent eight rounds of chemotherapy, daily injections to control a blood clot discovered in his heart and a bone marrow transplant.

Through it all, Jedi stayed strong and positive—like a superhero. 

In late 2020, Jedi reached a milestone on his journey.

He beat cancer.

He’s our Hero.

On Jedi’s journey, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals was there. Gift cards offset the cost of gas needed for hospital visits, equipment monitored Jedi’s blood pressure at home and a small device removed some of the pain from the shots he needed daily. All of it helped a family overwhelmed by an unexpected medical journey.

“To have CMN come in and provide so willingly and generously to our family was a huge relief,” Dianna says. “It helped to lift our spirits to know we had support.”

Today, Jedi is a healthy 12-year-old who enjoys his family, cheeseburgers, Seattle Seahawks football, science and the Hardy Boys book series—stuff any boy would.

But Jedi isn’t just any boy.

He’s a superhero helped by a few Gundersen heroes on his journey.

1900 South Ave.
La Crosse, WI 54601

(608) 782-7300

Language Support:
Jump back to top