By ERIC VICCARO

Kathy Padgett heard a loud boom at 7 a.m. on Monday, March 20, 2014, and she rushed to see what happened.

Jeffrey Padgett, Kathy’s teenage son and the youngest of five children, was passed out in the bathroom.

“I knew he needed to go to a doctor,” said Kathy Padgett. The family lives in rural Vashti.

Hours later at Wise County Medical Clinic, Jeffrey Padgett underwent an examination, which included drawing blood and taking an X-ray. Jeffrey passed out again en route to his X-ray exam while at the clinic.

“There was white all on his chest,” said Kathy Padgett, who then took her son to Cook Children’s Health Care System in Fort Worth. “It was caked with cancer.”

The Padgetts met with Dr. Karen Allbritton, the medical director at Cook Adolescent and Young Adult Program Hematology and Oncology Center. Kathy covered Jeffrey’s symptoms with Dr. Allbritton.

In turn, Allbritton told Jeffrey Padgett most likely he had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and additional tests – including a CT scan – confirmed the disease.

Meet this young man and his family as they discuss his battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma as part of The Bowie News’ series during Cancer Awareness Month.