Kristen Lee, shown with her son Jaxon, and her husband, Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians, are committed to helping the fight against leukemia. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

As Mother’s Day nears, Bay Village mother Kristen Lee and her husband, Cleveland Indian’s stalwart pitcher Cliff Lee, remain committed to throwing strikes to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and parents who’ve dealt with situations similar to their own.

Both Lees became involved as parents with the organization because their 5-year-old son, Jaxon, is in remission  after being diagnosed and treated several years ago for an aggressive form of leukemia.

“We feel blessed as parents that Jax has recovered so well from the leukemia and that he has been in remission for some time,” Kristen Lee said. “We also are fortunate that we’ve been placed in a position where Cliff, as a baseball player, is in a position to be able to do something about the problems and help try and solve them by getting people involved.”

Both Lees literally are walking the walk and doing more than just talking about the problems caused by leukemia. They are serving as the honorary co-chairs for the Light the Night Walk being held Sept. 17 at Jacobs Field. The annual walk raises funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as well as awareness of how blood cancer diseases affect people.

Cliff said he’s more than willing to use his celebrity status to help advance research and people’s awareness of the disease.

“If  people are willing to listen to me because I’m a ballplayer, then I’m happy to tell them about it,” Lee said. “It’s tough as a parent seeing your child in that position.”

Cliff’s employers, the Indians, are also involved. Ken Stefanov, chief financial officer for the Indians, is serving as the corporate chairman for the Light the Night walks, which in addition to Jacobs Field, will also take place in Cuyahoga Falls and Toledo in northern Ohio. For Stefanov, the mission is also personal because of family.

“My mother, Anne Stefanov, died in July last year from leukemia,” Stefanov said. “My mom faced it with courage, and I’m very committed to finding a cure, not just for my mother’s memory but for all the people and their family and friends who have to deal with it.”

Stefanov said the corporate portion of the Light the Night walks campaign is being kicked off May 17 with a noon to 1:30 p.m. luncheon at the Terrace Club in Jacobs Field.

Stefanov said it’s no surprise to the Indians that the Lees are involved in the Society’s program.

“They’re those kind of people,” Stefanov said. “They’re very caring and willing to help others.”

Kristen said when they first were made aware of Jaxon’s condition several years ago when he was just four months old, it came as a shock.

“No one in either of our families had had to deal with it before this,” she said. “It’s not something you expect to happen to you. It’s tough in any situation I would imagine, but to have it happen to a baby made it really hard.”

She said one part that made it a little easier to cope with was that it happened near the end of the 2001 minor league baseball season, since Cliff was still in the minor leagues at the time. It started with Jaxon going to the emergency room for a high fever. After several tests – including blood work – he was initially diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.

  “After that, Cliff went to the ballpark to pitch the last game of the season,” Kristen said. “A few hours later, the blood tests came back and the doctor said it might be leukemia and that he needed to be transferred to the Orlando hospital. That was something we just weren’t ready for.”

Jaxon was then diagnosed with acute mylelogenous leukemia, a very aggressive form of leukemia, the blood cancer. He was given a 30 percent chance of survival.

“It was rough on us as parents because you just want to help because he was just a baby,” Cliff said.

After the diagosis, the family flew home to Arkansas and began treatment.

“It was tough because we were dealing with something like this, and back then Cliff wasn’t in the major leagues,” Kristen said. “We didn’t have the resources then that we’re fortunate to have now.”

She contacted the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and was given materials which helped educate her about the disease.

“All the people in the organization have always been helpful in a lot of ways with educational material, emotional support and friendship,” Kristen said. “It’s a big reason we want to help them now that we’re more able to. The organization has been a big help throughout all of it.”

After three months of therapy and radiation treatment, Jaxon relapsed and required radiation treatment on his right eye. This lowered his chance of survival, medical officials said.

“It put me as a parent in a defense mode the whole time,” Kristen said. “My energy was focused on educating myself about leukemia and serving as an advocate for Jax through all his treatments.”

For Cliff, who’s known for his tough demeanor on the pitching mound, baseball has served several purposes when it comes to dealing with what happened to Jaxon.

“When I needed to focus on something else for a while, I could go out there and just focus on pitching,” Cliff said.

And when he isn’t pitching, Cliff said his ability to focus exclusively on something helps when he wants to help his family.

On Feb. 1, 2002, Jaxon underwent a cord blood stem transplant in San Antonio, Texas, and in less than two weeks he was showing major improvements.

“It’s pretty amazing now,” Kristen said. “He’s like any other happy and health 5-year-old playing with his younger sister (Maci) and getting into things.”

Cliff said based on Jax’s behavior you wouldn’t know he’d been ill.

“You can barely remember it sometimes,” Cliff said.

Kristen said her son has definitely inherited his father’s athletic toughness.

“Just ask him what he wants to be,” she said.

“I want to be an athlete,” Jaxon happily responds.

Cliff and Kristen will tell you friends and family are a big help, with Kristen reiterating that they want to help others.

“We hope that something can be gained by sharing the experience our family went through and that those who are touched by cancer will find hope and strength to fight their disease,” Kristen said.

For further information, visit the Society Web site at www.lls.org/noh.