When a child is diagnosed with a critical illness, their life is often completely uprooted. Treatments, doctor visits and other appointments do not work around the child. Instead, the child and family must rework their lifestyle around fighting the illness. This is especially true for 7-year-old Pate.  

Pate’s medical journey started in December of 2020 when his parents noticed a lump under his chin. This lump was originally thought to be an infected lymph node. Doctors performed biopsy surgery and sent it to be tested. After an exceptionally long week of waiting to receive results, Pate was called back in to visit a pediatric oncologist where he was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma. At first, Pate and his family were told that he would only need three rounds of chemo until later doctors found lymph nodes under his diaphragm which resulted in four rounds of harsher chemo being added to his treatment schedule. To make treatment even more challenging, Pate and his family would have to travel 200 miles each way for his chemo treatments, so they rented a small apartment where the family of five stayed from April through August. Pate’s parents made accommodations with their jobs so they could be there for Pate. In addition, waiting for doctors, treatments and results were hard for Pate because he feels most comfortable when he knows what is going to happen next; he thrives on having structure. Pate needed something in his life that he could plan on.  

When Pate’s medical journey first began, his doctor shared that he could qualify for a wish and referred him to Make-A-Wish. Through the wish discovery process, Pate surprised everyone with his wish to have a Star Wars game room. Pate’s determined heart coupled with the hope of a wish had him making plans for a space where he could play pinball, air hockey and other games with his brothers for years to come. Pate was involved in the wish planning process, sharing all his favorite games with his wish granters so they could create the perfect game room. 

On his wish day, Pate and his family went on a small shopping spree to pick out some extra goodies for his game room while his wish granters arranged the couch, gaming tables and mini-fridge. When he arrived at his house for the reveal, he was blindfolded as his mom led him into his new game room. He slipped off the blindfold and a huge grin spread across his face. There were games for him and games for his brothers, LEGOs, Star Wars games and more. The boys investigated every corner of the room, finding all the toys that would be theirs forever. Pate’s parents watched with big smiles and happy hearts. 

Since Pate’s wish was granted, he and his brothers have spent countless hours in the game room, bonding over who can win the next air hockey game and who can build the coolest object out of LEGOs. His family often reminisces about the magic they experienced at the end of his cancer treatment and were overjoyed when Pate’s six-month scans came back clear.