Cedarville Stories Podcast: Blessed with a Cure, Blessing Others

There were lots of blessings for Julia Gardner in 2015 — a new marriage and the promise of a rewarding career. But her hopes for the future were paused when six weeks after her wedding and one day before starting the professional pharmacy program at Cedarville, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). She and husband, Michael, a 2014 Cedarville alumnus, were devastated, as was the rest of her family. But they moved toward this unexpected twist in life’s road with faith and resolve.

Julia, who was on track to graduate with her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2019, withdrew from school to focus on her treatment. Over the course of two and a half years, she logged 90 days in the hospital, received more than 30 blood and platelet transfusions, and moved back in with her parents for 24-hour care.

Julia finished treatment in December 2017 and has been in remission ever since.

She re-enrolled at Cedarville and completed her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in May 2020, only one year off pace of her original plan. She is currently serving as a first-year pharmacy resident at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. 

In the middle of her treatments at Cincinnati Children’s, Julia saw the children fighting cancer and was inspired. That’s where Julia’s Jammies began. The organization she founded has collected 5,200 pairs of children’s pajamas and distributed them to 17 hospitals during the last five years.

“The first month or so of treatment consisted of us realizing how life-altering this diagnosis would be,” Julia explained in a Cedarville public relations story in 2018. “It was tough, but I knew God was sending me down this road in order to grow closer to Him.”

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To donate to Julia’s Jammies, visit the Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/juliasjammies/.

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,550 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its Doctor of Pharmacy program, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University, visitwww.cedarville.edu.