A freshman at Grand Valley State University is looking confidently toward a new chapter as he enters college with his cancer in remission and a care team behind him at Corewell Health. 

When freshman Jeremiah Robinson was told he had leukemia in August 2024, he was still in high school and wanted to graduate at the same time as his peers. On the other hand, despite the relief that came with an explanation for his symptoms, which included a 105-degree fever and severe lethargy, Robinson felt the anxiety that accompanies a cancer diagnosis.

“It got to the point where I couldn’t really breathe correctly,” Robinson recalled. “I was distraught. Who wants to hear they have cancer?”

What followed was a long medical journey beginning at Corewell Health in Royal Oak, before being transferred to the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids. Despite the comfort provided by nurses and doctors, his body began to change in reaction to the treatment. To him, some of the effects were more noticeable than others.

“My fingernails have this black tint on them now,” Robinson said. “My neuropathy isn’t the same. I have feeling in my hands, but near the tips of my fingers, I’ll get this static feeling. My immune system has been weakened.”

Through it all, Robinson has tried to keep a positive attitude. 

“I learned a lot of lessons going through this,” Robinson said. “I learned to think about things in the long run, essentially.”

Through his perseverance and the dedicated care of his medical team, he was able to receive as much of a cure as anyone with leukemia can hope for, and is now in remission.

Life goes on for Robinson, and he is now pursuing a multimedia journalism degree at GVSU. He hopes to use this to catapult a career in broadcasting and television production, and to use his skills to tell his story.  

“I’ve always liked making small episodes of things and uploading them on YouTube or TikTok,” Robinson said. “I plan on making more videos describing my experience and inspiring others.”

Looking to the future was a way for Jeremiah to overcome the emotionally and physically exhausting experience. While learning to play guitar at a therapy session provided by the hospital, he began to see a silver lining. 

“It’s okay not to be okay,” Robinson said. “Stay positive no matter what. If you feel like you’re in a negative situation, find any positive aspect about it.”

His new doctor in this effort, Beth Kurt, a pediatric oncologist at Helen DeVos, believes his choice to be positive during an incredibly dangerous and harrowing experience may have contributed to his recovery.

“When it’s something as simple as feeling sad or depressed, you may not have great sleep habits or you might not be eating well,” Kurt said. “You’re already at risk for losing weight from your cancer therapy, and then your nutrition suffers even further. Poor nutrition doesn’t lend itself to recovering well from chemotherapy. Those emotional, psychosocial and spiritual factors have a big impact on how someone does throughout their treatment.”

Kurt met Robinson this August, when his care team in Royal Oak transferred his case to Grand Rapids. Attending GVSU made this transfer a no-brainer as far as Robinson’s medical needs were concerned.

“When Jeremiah got the great news that he had been accepted as a student at GVSU, his original doctor, Kate Gowans, reached out to me and asked if I would mind continuing to deliver Jeremiah’s chemotherapy care,” Kurt said. “I was happy to partner with her in that.”

Kurt paused to emphasize just how serious Robinson’s diagnosis was.

“If you put yourself in Jeremiah’s shoes, to receive this leukemia diagnosis, and for him to get this in his senior year of high school, is just even more disruptive, to put it lightly,” Kurt said. “If it wasn’t treated, that leukemia would have absolutely taken his life. There is no doubt about it.”

Kurt is encouraged by the positive attitudes of her patients, especially when she is feeling down about sharing medical updates to patients she has gotten to know. She said looking out for herself in a similar way can help her become a more effective caregiver for patients in their time of need.

“It’s tough,” Kurt said. “I’d be lying if I said that was easy. I hate to see broken hearts, and to deliver that type of news. It has the potential to take its toll on the entire medical team. Part of my job (is) to be able to care for others, myself and my team. We don’t just become numb to that.”

The tragic and jarring nature of a situation like this isn’t lost on Kurt. However, she iterated the state of medical care for leukemia is better than it’s ever been. Great strides in treatment are being made every year, and Kurt felt it was important to let anyone out there who is struggling with leukemia know that help is available, and successful in many cases.

“It happens to be one of the most common pediatric cancers that we see, for reasons we do not totally understand,” Kurt said. “Even though it is commonplace for me to encounter patients who need care for leukemia, I still want to give my undivided attention to their child. This is a very treatable cancer, and I want families to focus on the future.”

Kurt is confident the type of care and support Robinson receives will only continue to grow. She eagerly considered those who may go into the field to help others receiving a cancer diagnosis.

“There is so much hope in the world of pediatric oncology,” Kurt said. “Our survival rates have never been as good as they are today. While childhood cancer is much less common than adult cancer, there are people who you are going to school with right now who have been through that journey.”

Robinson can still remember the day Corewell Health’s team outlined their plan to get him back on track in his own life.

“I wasn’t very nervous to begin the treatment,” Robinson said. “I was thinking about the long term. I knew my body was going to experience changes, but I was willing to do anything for my health to get back to normal.”

It looks like that bet has paid off in spades, as Robinson is now looking forward to pursuing his degree at GVSU. He feels more confident than ever in having beat cancer, and he knows he has been made stronger in the process. The obstacles to completing a degree seem small in comparison to what he has gone through already.

“My outlook on life is do as much as you can, and don’t ever let anything stop you from doing all that you can,” Robinson said.