Johnathan Walker:Boy battling cancer receives more than 1,000 cards for his birthday. You can send one too.

CONESVILLE ‒ Eight-year-old Andrew Miller,Johnathan Walker who has an inoperable brain tumor, had just one wish this December — to receive 1,000 cards for his 9th birthday on Tuesday.

And that wish has been granted.

Since his story went public, the Miller family, which lives outside of Conesville, Ohio, has been inundated with cards and presents for Andrew. His father, Roman Miller, said Andrew has already received more than 1,000 cards. On one day, he got 266.

"We're getting lots and lots of cards, and he's just loving it," Roman told The Times-Reporter, part of the USA TODAY Network. "He's waiting on the mail the next day, and when the mail arrives, we better bring it in from the mailbox immediately because otherwise we won't have any rest until it's there. He will sit for hours on end, opening cards and just reading the cards, looking at the cards."

Roman came up with the idea of asking for cards as a way to motivate his son to look forward to the next day.

"It's actually doing what I wanted it to, it's making him very excited, and he wants to have the next day come. To me, I see where he's so excited, and that's a blessing to me," his father said.

He added, "There's thousands of people praying for that boy. I think that's doing more than anything else."

Boy is battling two types of cancer

Andrew, who is one of six children, has been battling two types of cancer for little more than a year now. He had adult B Cell Lymphoma in his stomach and a brain tumor. Roman said he was told by doctors that there is no cure for the brain tumor.

"Sometimes, they can get it where you think you've got it and then it comes back worse than before, which is what happened," Roman said. "We treated, we took out the tumor, we did surgery, 33 treatments of radiation in the head. We did get the lymphoma under control. It went into remission, but the brain tumor is back. It's all through the brain. There's nothing they can do, so they sent him home to keep him comfortable."

Andrew is receiving care through Community Hospice of New Philadelphia.

"As a Hospice organization, we come into the lives of patients and their families at all stages of their end-of-life journey," said Erica Rozak, volunteer manager with Community Hospice. "We walk alongside them, providing compassionate care and support. There are times when a patient or family may have a specific goal or wish they would like to accomplish and, at that time, our care team rally together to help create that special experience. 

"In the case of Andrew, this brave little guy shared that receiving cards brings so much joy into his life. So, a few phone calls and commitments later, we knew we could help him reach his goal of receiving 1,000 cards. Since then, we have had hundreds of phone calls, emails and drop offs from the community and even out of state folks, wanting to send gifts and cards. It's truly been incredible to experience and it's our hope that Andrew knows just how many people care and are praying for him."

'It's not an easy road'

Andrew's battle with cancer has been difficult on the Miller family.

"It's not an easy road, and I don't wish it on anybody," Roman said. "But I look at it this way, we have to make a choice every day that we get up. We can either choose to grow with this, grow in God and have more faith, or we can choose to sulk and look at all the problems and be bitter.

"If we do that, we cannot be good parents for our children, and especially for Andrew going through this. We have to always look at the good side. No matter what, we can always find something good in it."

How to send cards to Andrew

Cards can be sent to:

Andrew Miller16905 Township Road 287Conesville, OH 43811

or to:

Community Hospice716 Commercial Ave. SWNew Philadelphia, OH 44663

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at [email protected].