Celebrating remission, Lex embodies strong will

Lex Stolle had just started fifth grade when he started experiencing symptoms like loss of appetite, fatigue and body aches.

After exams and tests at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Lex was diagnosed with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in September 2019 at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s. He underwent chemotherapy treatments once a week and in October 2019, Lex celebrated going into remission.

“ALL is the most common cancer in kids, but it’s also one of the most curable cancers in kids,” said said Glen Lew, MD, a Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.

After going into remission, Lex continued weekly treatments at Children's until moving into monthly maintenance chemo treatments in July 2020. The sixth-grader will continue to receive monthly treatments over the next three years.

"He's a little sad to be in sixth grade, as he feels robbed of his fifth-grade year," said Ashley Stolle, Lex’s mom, "but he also tells me, ‘I have to graduate and get on with my life so I can start saving the world.'"

After the toll that treatment took on his body, Lex is returning to the activities he loves, such as playing tennis, participating in the school play and attending Atlanta United games with friends.

Lex embodies the Will that patients at Children's use every day to overcome difficult diagnoses or injuries.

“Lex has shown an amazingly strong will in his fight against leukemia. He doesn’t let bad days from chemotherapy or complications slow him down much,” said Dr. Lew.

“More importantly, Lex shows his strong will mentally. He has had an amazingly positive attitude through this difficult journey that both kids and adults could learn from. Lex is tougher than any adult I have ever seen and tougher than most kids I've seen, and I've been a pediatric oncologist for 20 years."