The Marlowe brothers, from left, Jonas, Jaxon and Jace.

The life of a single parent is always a difficult one, but that reality became increasingly more complex for Jacob Marlowe when his 7-year-old-son, Jace, was diagnosed with leukemia in October.

The Fairview Elementary student’s diagnosis came after all three of Marlowe’s sons suffered from a bout of impetigo, a highly contagious skin infection, at the beginning of October 2022. Unlike his brothers, Jaxon, 9, and Jonas-soon to be 5, Jace was slow to recover and when his grandmother noticed he appeared a bit jaundiced, the decision was made to go in for a follow-up visit with his pediatrician.

When Marlowe received a call from Jace’s doctor while he was at work, he began to be a bit worried. When he saw a second missed call, and that both had been from the doctor’s personal cell phone, he said he started bracing himself for bad news.

“When I called her back, she was kind of having a hard time talking to me and immediately my heart just sank. I said, ‘Just shoot it to me straight,’ then she said ‘I’m really hoping I’m wrong,’ and I just lost it and started crying,” Marlowe said.

The next two days became a whirlwind the Marlowe family. Jace was admitted to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham that night and received his official diagnosis (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Type-B) the next day, Wednesday, Oct. 12, before beginning his treatment on Thursday, Oct. 13.

“In a three day span we went from having three healthy kids and then, boom, you have a kid with cancer and we’re doing chemo now. Because while it was at a good place, if we had waited just two or three more months, we wouldn’t have him anymore. It would have been terminal, and that really shook me,” Marlowe said.

What followed was an aggressive treatment regimen which included chemotherapy and, at times, weekly spinal taps to monitor Jace’s platelet counts. Even though Jace’s cancer went into remission in November, Marlowe said he would quickly learn the fight was far from over.

“A lot of people have this misconception that remission means it’s all done and everything’s all better, but leukemia isn’t like that. You still have to follow the process and continue the treatments,” Marlowe said.

Each new phase of Jace’s treatments presents its own set of unique challenges. Due to chemotherapy weakening his immune system, Marlow has to keep an even closer watch on his son’s health. Each new bruise has the potential to be a warning sign or regression, and every fever requires an Emergency Room visit.

Marlowe said he anticipated several of these challenges and was able to meet them with a brave face, like when he shaved his head in solidarity with Jace in March. While he said others, caused him to lose his composure.

“Some of the stuff that goes along with cancer, you know it’ll happen, but when you experience it first hand, it’ll break you. I remember when Jace would wake up in the middle of the night to go throw up, I’d just be trying to help him and crying because there’s just nothing I can do for my kid. He wouldn’t be crying though. The thing that broke me the most, is when he got up and started patting me on the back and said, ‘It’s okay daddy, I’m okay,’ and I was just gone at that point,” Marlowe said.

Marlowe said that has been Jace’s mentality throughout his entire experience. Even when undergoing radiation therapy, blood transfusions, a bone marrow transplant and ongoing chemotherapy, Jace remains first and foremost a 7-year-old boy. During his extended stays in the hospital, Jace spends his days playing video games and building pillow forts in his room and has maintained his grades while receiving weekly homebound school sessions. Marlowe said he has also become a bonafide “little metal-head” who enjoys listening to classic albums from bands such as Metallica and Megadeath — all under Marlowe’s careful parental supervision, he noted.

“He’s just been so positive through all of it,” Marlowe said.

Marlowe, who has been facing all these challenges while raising his other two sons, said perhaps the most difficult lesson he has had to learn is how to accept help from others. Coming from a background of ministry work — before leaving seminary school to raise his family — Marlowe said he has always been much more comfortable being the one to offer support than he is receiving it.

Marlowe said his sister and mother have been an “incredible amount of help” by offering to pick the boys up from school and watching them when Jace receives treatments. He said the staff at Children’s Hospital were able to help him navigating their new family dynamic and helping him explain Jace’s condition to his brothers. Jace’s uncle, Cody Lancaster, recently was able to convince Marlowe to create a GoFundMe account to help with his increased financial burdens.

“I put myself on the back burner a lot of times and just focus on the kids. What they helped me realize, is that I can burn-out too and I don’t have to white-knuckle through this whole thing,” Marlowe said.

If no complicating factors arise, Jace’s final chemotherapy treatment is scheduled for Jan. 2025.

To donate to Marlowe’s GoFundMe visit gofundme.com/f/jacerockscancer.

Marlowe is also accepting Meal Train donations.

Donations to an upcoming Climb for Jace fundraiser, organized by Cory Graham, can be made directly to Premier Bank.

Want to raise awareness and money for cancer research? Relay For Life of Cullman County will return to Depot Park in downtown Cullman Saturday, from 5-10 p.m. for its 30th anniversary. Relay for Life celebrates cancer survivors, remembers those lost to the disease, and raises funds to support patients and find cures.