6-Year-Old Cancer Survivor & Her Nurse Still Share Special Bond Years Later

When Averie Lazzara was just two years old, she began treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow that affects white blood cells.

Today, six-year-old Averie is now cancer-free and credits her nurse, Jamie Rogers, for helping her and her family get through the rough days of cancer treatment.

The two first met when Averie started her treatment at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital. They quickly developed a special bond that they still share to this day.

When Averie was in preschool, she had to fill out an “All About Me” paper. One of the things she wrote was that she “wanted to be nurse Jamie when she grew up.”

During Averie’s clinic visits, the two would play doctor or nurse together. Everyone in the unit loved Averie’s outgoing personality, and admired her close relationship with Rogers.

“Working with parents is a huge part of being a pediatric nurse,” Rogers told Northwestern Medicine. “Since becoming a parent myself, I feel like I’m such a better nurse because I can relate to how the parents are feeling. They look to us for reassurance and comfort when they’re here, and to understand what’s normal and what’s not.”

Averie comes back for checkups every two months in the hospital’s Pediatric Outpatient Center and still visits Rogers.

Looking back at Averie’s long journey, her mother Stacy believes that without nurse Rogers, Averie’s obstacles would have been much harder to overcome.

“I think what’s especially powerful is that it was not one big thing Jamie did to make a monumental impact, but rather a million little things,” Stacy said. “She took what could have been a really traumatizing experience for Averie and found a way to infuse joy into her days. That’s a gift I could never put a value on.”

Hear their inspiring story in the video below:

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