LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – UMC Children’s Hospital has become a familiar battleground for Zackary Speck, from his premature birth in 2020 through a leukemia diagnosis a few years later.
An unexpected arrival
Zackary is the first-born son of Lillie and Christopher Speck. His birth was unexpected and was prompted by his twin sister.
“We went in for a little appointment and all of a sudden, here they were coming,” Lillie Speck said.
The twins were born at about 27 weeks in 2020. Zackary’s sister did not survive.
“Not only were we grieving, but we were also celebrating and trying to be there for him,” Lillie Speck said. “You know, they supported us in whatever we needed. And so it was nothing more than we could have ever asked for.”
That support came in the NICU of UMC Children’s Hospital, where Zackary stayed for 69 days.
“Every parent celebrates milestones, but it just seemed like we were celebrating every small thing with him, because he, he was fighting,” Lillie Speck said. “He started fighting since he was born.”
A new fight at age 4
That fight was needed for a battle that came when Zackary was 4 years old.
“It didn’t seem until, like, maybe the third ear infection he developed the rash,” Lillie Speck said. “And so we were all just thrown by that.”
What started as a rash became a severe bloody nose while Christopher and Lillie Speck were out of town.
“We got a call from Christopher’s parents that he had had another really bad bloody nose to where they had already been trying to stop it for, what, an hour? Could not stop it,” Lillie Speck said. “It was starting to, he was starting to throw up with it.”
“We’re driving through the middle of the night, not knowing, praying for the best, but you’re just kind of in a state of shock, you know, everything’s kind of going through your mind,” Christopher Speck said.
Reaching a diagnosis
The Specks took Zackary to UMC Children’s Hospital, where Dr. Kishor Bhende helped determine what was wrong. In March of 2025, he was diagnosed with B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
“Unfortunately, some of those symptoms are so nonspecific and vague, it sometimes does take a little bit of a time to reach to the right place and get the diagnosis done,” Dr. Bhende said.
Dr. Bhende, a pediatric oncologist, said the persistent illness was a clue, and further testing, including for cancer, was needed.
“Then it was very easy for us to kind of work him through the diagnostic process and establish that he has leukemia,” Dr. Bhende said.
“I don’t think you can describe what it’s like when they tell you those words, so…” Lillie Speck said.
The Specks were back at UMC Children’s Hospital, a familiar setting, with a new fight ahead.
“He had already fought so hard to even be alive back then,” Lillie Speck said. “Like, why is he having to fight again?”
Treatment and therapy
Dr. Bhende said the treatment would be intense. He’s gone through several months of chemotherapy as well as an appendectomy.
“He has to get a port placement done to do the chemotherapy,” Dr. Bhende said. “And then he has to get the lumbar punctures and at the same time we do the chemotherapy there. So there are multiple things we do to treat the leukemia. And the chemotherapy has got its side effects.”
Dr. Bhende said a partnership with the Children’s Oncology Group led to Zackary’s targeted immunotherapy, a new therapy to decrease the risk of relapse.
Since September 30, he’s been in remission with another year of treatment ahead.
Support beyond medicine
Alongside that treatment, the Children’s Miracle Network provides another resource: support through child life specialists, therapy dog Sable, and playrooms designed to create a welcoming environment for patients and families.
“They try to make everything feel as normal as possible in this situation that we’re in and all the kids that are there,” Christopher Speck said.
“It doesn’t make him as scared to go,” Lillie Speck said. “It’s always like, oh, we’re going to the balloon room or the cloud room. And so it makes it a little bit easier of, yeah, that’s where we’re going or we’re going to the new clinic.”
That pediatric clinic is the TLC2 Cancer Center, which bears the Speck family name. Zackary’s family gave back to the hospital that supported him.
“They just wanted to, you know, be a part of that and help pass that along to other kids, you know, that may need it,” Christopher Speck said.
“That’ll follow along after us,” Lillie Speck said.
This story is part of KCBD’s 43rd Annual Children’s Miracle Network Broadcast, a fundraiser for UMC Children’s Hospital. Donations can be made by calling 806-747-KIDS.
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