Dominic’s Story

Dominic had just come off a weekend basketball tournament and was complaining of leg pain we treated it with some medicine and iced it down. Come that Friday he could not even get out of bed.  He complained of a severe pain shooting from his foot to his knee.  We went to the emergency room where they x-rayed it and next thing you know our lives would never be the same.  They threw the big “C” word out to us in the emergency room and told us it was most likely cancer and we will start the testing process on Monday! A team of oncology doctors came in and they would be our new friends for this journey.  October 28^th 2009 it was confirmed that Dominic had Osteosarcoma which targeted his right tibia.  We started chemo immediately and had surgery a few months later and removed the right tibia and were replaced with a titanium rod.  Everything was looking good.  We had a clean bill of health for about 3 months and found out that the cancer was spreading to his lungs so we started back on chemo and some trial treatments for the cancer.  He had his left side of his lung removed since that is where all the cancer had attacked.  But needless to say it started attacking the right side as well. This process has all taken place in a 1 ½ year time frame.  We were pretty much at our last resort to trial chemo.  Dominic was granted a trip to Jamaica thru the Make a Wish foundation.  So in August of 2011 we took our trip and had no cares in the world seems like time stood still for a week.  We had no doctor visits, we did not have to deal with the hustle and bustle of the hospital and we all did not have one care in the world for one week if only time stood still!  We knew in the back of our minds we would have some decisions to make when we got back to the “real world”!  After vacation we started back to the hospital with routine visits we were told that the cancer is terminal and Dominic made the decision to not try anything else for the cancer.  We respected his decision and we made the decision to care for him at home with the help of hospice, family and friends!  Dominic passed away October 20^th 2011!

So here we are 5 years later looking back on all our why’s, what if’s we are trying to make others families journey’s just a little easier. Even though we focused on Dominic’s health we also had 2 other children and the everyday bills coming in. Most of the time I (Yvette) took the time off work to take Dominic to routine visits because dad (Manuel) was the bread winner in the family without his income coming in we would not have survived.  But we both did our share of hospital stays when need be.  After looking back sometimes we did not know how we made ends meet all of our children attended catholic school and we had to keep a routine with the other 2 children so they would not feel left out at home.  We had a few fund raisers that helped out tremendously with our household bills and hospital bills.  But after we buried our son we found our self in a position of almost losing our house! We worked daily to make ends meet but at times we felt we could not go on!  We robbed Peter to pay Paul and it still was not enough.  So as we start this journey on helping others we hope this helps others realize that house hold bills never stop coming in regardless of the situation and we are here to hopefully make a difference in other lives that have to deal with all the hospital stays and visits.

Adrienne’s Story

Adrienne Nicole Cervantes , May 29 , 2008 . She was born a twin next to her brother Antonio both coming in 6 weeks premature she already had to fight weighing in at just 4 lbs. They were night and day from day one , Adrienne being the only girl of 5 boy’s she had to hold her own. Even though she can be dressed in all pink and bow ties she sure knew how to get dirtier than the boy’s . She is our very own punky brewster.

On April 3rd , 2012 .. Adrienne was diagnosed with ALL (ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA) . ALL is a blood cancer that results when abnormal white blood cells (leukemia cells) accumulate in the bone marrow. ALL makes up the largest percentage of leukemia diagnosis in children under the ages of 15 (specifically between the ages of 2 and 4) , it is rare for adults to develop this disease.

Adrienne fought this battle with a smile on her face and always a thumbs up , motivated us parents that she is stronger than this sickness. We visited so many times and stayed several days at Kansas City Children’s Mercy going for extensive chemo and many spinal taps. As much as she went through this her brother Antonio kept her busy enough to let her know she is no different than any one else . Always by her side , exactly what a 2 minute.. year older brother does . On June 8 , 2014 little over 2 years of battle Adrienne would be taking her last oral chemo medications just one of many obstacles she had overcome . Just this past Friday 04/01/2016 she went in for a check up , having blood drawn 2 days later throwing out the first pitch.

Life after her last treatment has been even more of a challenge for us parents, Adrienne has been pushing her limits to everything she has felt she has missed out on . Gymnastics, soccer , tball, roller coasters , you name it she is trying before she realizes she going. She has been recognized and inspiring to several families in our community for her strong fight. A blessing to call her our daughter.

2008-2014 Fought and beat ALL Cancer

2014-Present is still fighting to be Cancer Free

2014 LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY ” GIRL OF THE YEAR ”

2014 MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION SENT HER AND FAMILY FOR BREAKFAST W/ PRINCESSES

2015 BRADEN’S HOPE PHOTO SHOOT W/ WADE DAVIS

2016 THROWING OUT THE FIRST PITCH FOR DEFENDING CHAMPIONS KC ROYALS