Blayne loves to cook and loves to game. He is an old soul who loves to listen to jazz and loves his mama dearly.
Blayne was diagnosed with Desmoplastic small round cell tumor on January 13th 2021. Prior to his diagnosis, he was having trouble eating and had a bulge in his stomach. Upon scanning, over 400 tumors were found in his chest and abdomen!
He has had 10 rounds of Infusion inpatient chemo, an 18 hour surgery where they removed 373 tumors and a foot of colon, appendix and gall bladder. He also had 6 weeks of full body radiation (5 days a week 40 minutes a day) and 3 months of maintenance chemo. Now that his cancer has come back after a 6-month remission, he is on month 2 of oral chemo.
Cancer has changed our lives in a major way! I am a single mom to Blayne and his 4-year-old brother. Having to be away from Blayne’s little brother during hospital stays along with being off of work has been hard.
Blayne is a true inspiration. He has never once complained about his circumstances.
Shariah is a very outgoing, fun, loving girl. She loves to read and do outdoor sports.
Shariah is now 15 years old, and 3 years cancer-free. At the age of 11, just one month before her 12th birthday we learned she had a mass attached to her liver. This mass was found to be stage 4 cancer called Undifferentiated Embryonal Sarcoma of the Liver. She had surgery to remove the mass and then had chemo and radiation for 6 months. She would have one week of chemo in the hospital every 3 weeks, and then a month of daily radiation. Treatment was super tough with vomiting, hair loss, and fatigue.
Before she was diagnosed, Shariah did have sporadic episodes that would lead us to visit urgent care or her doctor. We were told the cause ranged from her diet, her menstrual cycle, her appendix, and finally, gas in her stomach. At one point her stomach was so puffed out that she looked 2-3 months pregnant.
Shariah is the ambassador for “The Valerie Fund”. She has told her story in front of 5000+ people. She is an active fundraiser for childhood cancer and has spoken at multiple events.
Ignacio was diagnosed with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma on December 25, 2021. A fall in a trampoline opened the never-ending pain.
We left all our family in Puerto Rico to go to St Jude to save our son’s life. He has had radiation, chemotherapy, big surgery, and experimental treatments.
From birth, Gemma has been the most easy-going baby. She is pure sunshine and smiles. The Friday before Easter I noticed her eye weeping a bit and thought she may be developing pink eye. I called her pediatrician who suggested just keep an eye on it. Over the weekend, I began to notice some swelling surrounding her left eye. I continued to consult with her pediatrician regarding her developing symptoms. Over the course of the next two weeks, her swelling began to extend into her cheek as well. I began to notice some hyperopia and eventually some nasal congestion. Gemma never appeared bothered by the symptoms, but by the time she developed congestion she started to have trouble sleeping at night and became fussier. Mother’s intuition told me something wasn’t quite right. I was either on the phone with the pediatrician or in their office several times during those two weeks. We also made an emergency visit to a pediatric ophthalmologist as well as the emergency room at the local Children’s Hospital but never received any answers. I knew after two weeks I couldn’t let it go any longer without knowing what was going on, so we decided to take Gemma to a research hospital that was about an hour away. She spent about a week in the hospital receiving multiple tests before we found out she had myeloid sarcoma presenting in tumors within her maxillary sinuses.
Gemma is a fighter. Over the last 4 months, she has endured a plethora of MRIs, bone marrow biopsies, spinal taps, PET scans, x-rays, ultrasounds, echocardiograms, blood draws, a biopsy of her tumor, a surgical procedure where she was placed with a broviac line and has received countless medications. She is currently in her third of five rounds of chemotherapy. She has received numerous chemo infusions as well as intrathecal injections of chemotherapy since her journey began in April 2021. As a result of her depleted bone marrow, Gemma has received countless blood and platelet transfusions over the last four months as well.
Because of Gemma’s age and chemotherapy protocol she remains in the hospital during her treatment. Typically we spend anywhere from 37-48 days in the hospital for each session of chemo. This means she is separated from many family members and friends and even during brief breaks at home she has not seen most of her extended family in months due to her being severely immunocompromised. She has a 2.5-year-old big brother who misses her and me dearly while we stay in the hospital for such lengthy periods of time.
Like most families affected by cancer, our world has essentially been turned upside down since her diagnosis in April. Gemma is the strongest and bravest little girl and has tackled each round of chemotherapy and the many other scary procedures associated with her cancer like a true little warrior. We have spent around 100 days in the hospital since her diagnosis. Since the birth of her big brother in 2018, I have been a stay-at-home mom. One of the biggest challenges and changes we’ve experienced over the last 4 months is not being together as a family. Gemma and I (mom) live together at the hospital while she goes through treatment. It, unfortunately, means limited interaction with her big brother and dad. Seeing her big brother at most once a week or at times once every other week is gut-wrenching. I miss having both my babies under one roof and the seemingly simple things about everyday life together.
Gemma has endured far more challenges in her 9 months of life than I wish she had to. She is strong. She is tough. She is absolutely beautiful. She is a fighter. We are so hopeful that by the end of this year we will be done with her cancer treatment and back to living under the same rough as a family again.
Raymeer a ray of sunshine! He loves school and learning different things. He actually teaches us! He loves dinosaurs. He plays soccer and does swimming and wrestling. He is an awesome kid to be around!
He diagnosed at 4 months old with undifferentiated soft tissue sarcoma. I found the tumor on the side of his face. His skin became extra dry, his skin color was changing, and his hair started to fall out.
Raymeer received chemo and radiation. The radiation sent him backward. He walked at 6 months and resorted back to crawling from the radiation. His eyes became crossed, that was another side effect, which threw his balance off.
My family and I have been through our struggles and we pray every day that we never have to face them again.
We are really unsure what led to Shariah’s diagnosis as she was an active 11 year old playing sports and healthy.
We went from practices and games to hospital visits appointments. That was a huge change and staying positive. Some days were better than others. It was tough in the being for the family but Shariah took each set and treatment well.
We are definitely more in tune with each other. We are a God fearing family and whatever His will be let it be done. We did a lot of Praying. Shariah has a testimony that she will one day tell to the world of how she has overcome.
