As their 4-month-old son receives a third round of chemotherapy at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, Jason and Katie Smith of Chandler fight not only to save his life but to sustain their faith.

“After calling out the obvious lack of sleep, lack of normalcy, and lack of time together, we went on to rediscover that our love for one another has never been subject to these things before,” Jason said. “We both acknowledged again that we made a commitment to God to put one another before everything else on Earth — everything. Our love is not based on circumstance.”

Life took an unexpected turn for the couple just over two months ago, when a pediatrician told them Zeb was likely suffering from Neuroblastoma, a cancer found in immature nerve cells that primarily affects infants and children.

Over Independence Day weekend, during a visit to family in Oklahoma, a relative told the Smiths they were worried about how large and hard Zeb’s belly had grown in relation to the rest of his body. A day before a scheduled well- ness check-up, the couple saw Zeb’s pediatrician before they were sent to Children’s Medical Center that afternoon.

“Our first several hours at the hospital were marked by tough times,” Jason wrote at caringbridge.org. “Preliminary blood work was done, initial imaging was gathered, and the findings were pointing toward what the pediatrician had suspected.

“After many pricks with needles, an ultrasound, and a CT scan, it was confirmed that Zeb did have a rather large foreign mass between his right kidney and his liver — along with many other small masses scattered throughout the rest of his body.”

Oncologists confirmed what the pediatrician had suspected, that Zeb was probably suffering from Neuroblastoma. The disorder occurs in about 1 of 100,000 children, and is slightly more common in boys.

Courtesy Photos “We’re amazed at how many times we catch ourselves trying to gain ultimate power over our lives,” Jason said.

“However, we recognize that we rarely reflect on those times when life has aligned perfectly with our own will. When we pick through our memories for the seasons that strengthened or inspired us the most, the ones that often stand out are those when we worked through something that didn’t go as we initially planned.”

The Smiths, though, appear to be coping. In an entry dated Aug. 21 at caringbridge. org, they reflect on the need for a new haircut for Zeb.

“Several times in the last week, we both became emotional upon observing and accepting the balding of Zeb’s scalp. His hair was falling out pretty quickly, but we only noticed bald spots above and behind his ears.

“Actually, we both admitted he was beginning to look like a character from the movie, ‘Oh Brother, Where Art Thou.’ Zeb’s natural do was no longer working for him, so this morning we decided to cut it.

“When asked of her wishes for Zeb’s new look, the words just rolled out of my sweet bride’s mouth with no hesitation, ‘I want him to have a Mohawk.’ We decided together it would actually be a ‘CheMohawk.’”

Kate is the daughter of Brownsboro High School girls basketball coach Fred Griffin and retired BHS art teacher Renee Griffin.

She and Jason document Zeb’s progress at caringbridge. org, and donations can be made at Citizens State Bank in Chandler. Zeb Smith bracelets are available at Copeland’s Chandler Drug.