Tatum
6-year-old | leukemia patient
Making a splash everywhere she goes, Tatum will be an amazing lifeguard.
Guard your dreams closely
Getting so much help at a young age for her cancer, Tatum is ready to rescue others. This 6-year-old Leukemia in children patient wants to be a lifeguard when she grows up. At summer camp, she saw the lifeguards blowing their whistles and tossing out floatation devices. She can’t wait to sit up on that lifeguard tower and look over everyone. Find out where she envisions her first job.
Favorite Care Team Member
Making a big splash on Tatum’s life
From the staff in oncology, ICU and surgery to the team in occupational therapy, Tatum’s family estimates that 80 to 100 people at Children’s Health℠ Dallas Campus helped save their daughter’s life. But one really stood out to Tatum – her oncology nurse, Brittney Lanier. And she felt the same about Tatum. Brittany loved getting to know Tatum and helping her get stronger both inside the hospital and out at Camp John Marc.
Patient Story
Swimming upstream to recovery
Shortly after Tatum Teague was diagnosed with leukemia, additional threats to her life kept coming up – from dealing with a bone infection to having her colon removed to enduring kidney failure, a collapsed lung and a swollen stomach. After 39 days in ICU, she returned to the Pauline Allen Gill Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and was released from the hospital on January 4, 2017. In fact, she rang the last day of chemotherapy bell with pride and enthusiasm. Today, she is a happy little girl who hopes to help others just like she was helped.
Make a Wish
Saving the snow leopards
Tatum visited the San Antonio Zoo and became fascinated with snow leopards. Her mom and grandma, Gigi, bought her a stuffed animal, and now Snow Leopard Tatum goes with her everywhere including every round of chemotherapy. So it’s no wonder she hopes Make a Wish® will grant her the ability to see and help the endangered snow leopards native to Asia.
Camp
Jumping in with everything
It’s important for Tatum to look past her diagnosis toward her dreams. Camp John Marc let her do just that. Every day was a different activity, from hiking and camping to playing games and swimming, Tatum got to just be a kid. It’s here she learned all about lifeguarding, and her dream for the future began to take shape.
