Jesse Buchanan
Lifetouch Inc. 2025.
When Jessi Buchanan’s mother took her to the doctor on April 28, 2025, she expected a stomach bug. What they found instead was a mass the size of a cantaloupe on Jessie’s right ovary. Within weeks, the then-octogenarian from Kentucky would navigate one of the world’s rarest childhood cancers—and insist, with gentle but unwavering conviction, that she be included in every decision about her body.
He was 13 years old.
A diagnosis no one saw coming
Jessie was an otherwise healthy girl who enjoyed horseback riding, volleyball, and coloring. Her symptoms – bloating, nausea, diarrhea and an inability to feel comfortable – developed rather suddenly, just days before her diagnosis.
At the hospital, doctors thought her constellation of symptoms were from a stomach virus, infection or pregnancy. However, given her degree of distress, a CT scan was ordered, which showed a large pelvic mass.
Jessi’s doctors privately told her parents of their concern about the cancer. Jessie remembers he wasn’t in the room.
“I feel like I had to be present, because it’s my body. I wanted to be part of that conversation,” she told me. Jessie’s preference is supported by data. Although limited, research shows that when children are involved in decision making, they experience reduced stress, increased sense of worth and control, and improved communication between children, parents, and clinicians. Understandably, many parents and clinicians may wonder if a child is too young to discuss such heavy news. However, pediatricians suggest that as early as nine o’clockchildren can begin to make informed treatment decisions, and by the time they are teenagers, many have developed decision-making capacity, including the ability to reason, understand treatment options, and express rational preferences.
After Jessi’s CT scan, further imaging, labs and a referral to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital followed. Her mother, Stephanie Buchanan, shared that Jessi’s tumor markers were elevated, which raised suspicions of malignancy. A subsequent surgery removed her right ovary, part of her fallopian tube, the tumor and her umbilicus, the tissue that covers the abdominal and pelvic organs, because the mass had a two-centimeter tear in its top, leaking into her abdominal cavity. In other words, it was no small operation for a child.
Pathology confirmed mucinous adenocarcinoma of the ovary, a cancer where the median patient age at presentation is 55 years.
“Only about 13 children under 15 in the world have been diagnosed with it,” Stephanie tells me. Given its rarity, tumor boards at Vanderbilt, MD Anderson, and St. Jude’s. Even among experts, there was no consensus on whether chemotherapy was the right route to go in designing the treatment plan. Hard data just wasn’t there.
Jessie had her own point of view. At an age when most teenagers are navigating high school drama, Jessie was researching chemotherapy protocols, weighing the risks of treatment against the uncertainty of watchful waiting.
Jessi Buchanan in the hospital during treatment
Stephanie Buchanan
Stephanie asked Jessie what she wants. “It doesn’t matter what I want – nobody’s going to listen to me, because I’m a kid,” Stephanie recalls. They offered her clarity and a reminder: “This is your body. Your opinion matters.” Jessie’s nanny also encouraged her to develop a sense of advocacy.
When Jessie met with her oncologist at Vanderbilt, she came prepared. “My thought process was: if I get through chemotherapy, I know I did something,” Jessie explains. “Instead of just sitting back and watching.” Her parents chose to support her rather than overrule her.
Her oncologist was reportedly amazed, not by her age, but by her knowledge. He assured that if this was really how Jessie felt after understanding everything before her, they would proceed with chemotherapy.
From that moment on, she made her position clear to her parents and medical team: she wanted to proceed, not as an observer, but as an active participant in medical decisions.
Jessie stood who was treating her. They postponed a medical procedure because Jessie did not feel comfortable with the surgeon who was available on a certain date. Stephanie learned that an experienced and intellectual child needs to “help make some of these decisions.”
Jessie also asked for a therapist. “I wanted help to make ends meet,” she says. “and I have better mechanisms for talking about feelings that I couldn’t talk about with my parents.”
Her parents learn too. Darrell, her father, shared that after her diagnosis he initially became overprotective, limiting her social life out of fear. “Once I realized it was starting to bother her,” he says, “I backed off. And once we let her start doing those things again, her whole attitude changed. She felt kind of normal.”
The Future of Jessi’s Advocacy
Jessi Buchanan and her family
Stephanie Buchanan
Jessie is currently in her freshman year of high school and is being monitored in hopes that the cancer won’t return. She dreams of becoming a pediatric oncology nurse.
And while there is so much promise for Jessie, she still has difficulties to overcome. The kids at school told her she “must have faked her cancer, because recoveries don’t happen that fast.” As a testament to her strength and maturity, she responds with patience and grace. He understands that there are difficulties in the world that a child never understands. Her parents also have a fight ahead. They are located in a fixed income and costs treatment and transportation to hospitals.
Jessie continues to raise awareness and hopes her journey can help empower other children in a similar situation.
And to parents reading this, Jessie’s mother has clear advice: “involve your child. Give them a voice.” She believes the agency will not just help them cope, but shape the kind of person they will become.
