Devin Suau's mother lost her son to tumor, then battled her own cancer diagnosis

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — A Framingham family who captured hearts around the country with their campaign to help find a cure for their son's rare disease is dealing with some new challenges.

Devin Suau passed away in October 2017. You may remember the hashtag "Why Not Devin" was started as a way to try to help find a cure for his rare tumor.

Devin's mother sat down with Boston 25 News to talk about her own recent health scare and how she and her other young sons are picking up the pieces.

Christine Suau's greatest loves are her four boys.

Oldest Colin, who just turned 14, Owen is 11, and Brenden is 9.

For this mother, her youngest son, Devin, will forever be 6, after his tragic death.

"We talk about Devin daily. We laugh about him. We tell jokes. He is constantly present," she said.

And instead of focusing on the pain, the Suau's are trying to focus on the positive, and the small signs from Devin they say they see, every day.

"So I believe Devin is a bee - there's a lot of backstory, but, bees have showed up in pretty crazy places," she said.

But this winter hasn't been easy: getting through the first anniversary of Devin's death, the holidays, and then Christine was hit with a health crisis of her own, when she was diagnosed with skin cancer.

Christine, an avid runner, noticed an irregular spot on her face but had put off calling the doctor.

"Hearing the word cancer was one - difficult - so minor in comparison to what we've just been through but just the word in general is really daunting," she said.

Christine's own mother passed away from breast cancer at 56.

Now, she is determined to take better care of herself, for her sons.

"If you are not taking time for yourself, you're not going to be what the people around you need," she said.

"It doesn't always have to just be a doctor's appointment. It's doing things for yourself that alleviate stress like going for a run or going to a boxing class," she said.

And Christine is also about to embark on a new journey, as a motivational speaker with her own website, "Meant to Bee."

"Bee" spelled like a bumblebee, another reference to Devin, and the piece of her heart that still stings. But that is also still buzzing with love.

Christine's mentor on the motivational speaker circuit is a Boston Marathon survivor who has also become a close friend.

As for her skin cancer scare, Christine's doctors say she's now cancer free, but she continues to get checked periodically.

Cox Media Group