FLORENCE, Ky. -- After what doctors found out about Maddox Johnson, every one of his drawings -- from volcanoes to sunsets -- became priceless to his parents.

"It's the worst news you could ever get about your child," his father, Micky Johnson, said.

Maddox, a first-grader at Erpenbeck Elementary, was diagnosed with cancer.

"T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma is the actual name of it," Johnson said.

A year ago, Maddox had a stout football build and time to play sports. But for now, many of his days are spent at Children's Hospital, either being treated with chemotherapy or dealing with its side effects.

"The treatment is almost as the disease itself. The side effects are so intense," his mother, Tenille, said.

The Johnson family also was desperately searching for ways to pay for Maddox's medical bills when he came up with a masterpiece of an idea and told his mom.

"He said, 'I can sell some of my pictures,' and it was, 'Ding ding ding.' The bells went off, and we wondered if that would work," she said.

Ten of his pictures of up for auction on eBay, and it's created such a clamor online that Geraldo Rivera is doing a story about the boy.

The Johnsons said the cancer treatment has a 75 percent success rate, and they're holding onto faith that it will work for him.