"The Leukemia Slayer" is 12-years-old and has been using social media to battle childhood cancer.
It's been three long years of undergoing chemotherapy. The nurses at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital are happy to see Jacob Goeders walk out cancer-free. "Happy end of therapy from all of us to you!" they sang to him. "It's been stressful, but I've gotten through it," he told ABC7 News.
"It feels like 10 years. It really does. It's like a second full-time job because there's constantly trips to the hospital and trips to the doctor," said Jacob's father, Todd Goeders.
During those three years, Jacob, who is now 12, worked on his Facebook page to raise awareness and money for childhood cancer research. He decided if he was going to fight cancer, he might as well give himself a name. He picked "The Leukemia Slayer."
"It just started off with friends and family, and it kind of just grew," he said. Today, he has raised more than $11,000.
Fifty years ago, the disease was practically incurable. Now, children with the most common type of leukemia have a 90 percent chance of surviving. "We didn't really know what leukemia was. We really didn't know how long you should give therapy. We didn't know the right doses of therapy," explained pediatric hematologist-oncologist Gary Dahl.
On his last day of treatment, Jacob decided to hand out some parting gifts to those who are starting their treatment, along with some advice. "Any kid who's starting out, keep going, you're going to do a great job," he said.
Jacob wants to become a video game designer and by leaving the hospital Monday, he moved one step closer to realizing his dream. ,/p.
