The Corona Family Story

The Corona Family with Bobby the Easter Bunny @ our 10th Ave. house

In the past year, the Corona family’s life has been completely turned upside down. Last May, they found out that their 3 year old son Steven was suffering from retinoblastoma, which is cancer of the eye. Unfortunately, retinoblastoma can be hereditary and the family went through this once before, with Steven’s dad many years prior.

The treatment plan led Steven, mom Brandy, grandma Janet, and baby sister Vivianna up to San Francisco to work with doctors at UCSF’s children’s hospital. Currently, the family is completing a five week stay at Family House while Steven receives 30 minute sessions of radiation treatment, 5 days a week. This treatment is an attempt to save his right eye, and prevent him from becoming blind (previous treatments were unsuccessful in saving his left eye).

While this isn’t the Corona family’s first stay at Family House, it is definitely the longest. Previously, they have stayed with us for just a few days at a time. Because Steven’s dad must stay home and work while everyone else is up in San Francisco, the time apart could be hard on this close family. However, they all pack up and drive home every weekend so that they can see their dad and spend time as a family, and on Sunday nights they drive back to begin another long week of treatment. They live about an hour outside of Fresno, so the roundtrip drive each weekend can take almost 10 hours. 

When they are here during the week, the family described the atmosphere using the words warmth, comfort, and security. In terms of security, the family referenced the way that they are always taken care of here: “any time we need something, it’s there… sometimes I can’t believe it and I have to say ‘pinch me’“. Aside from the great atmosphere here, a few of the Corona’s favorite parts of Family House are the events for the kids and the passes that Family House offers (to the zoo, Academy of Sciences, etc.). While the children’s activities help Steven get his mind away from his daily morning treatments at the doctors, Brandy says that the family passes help the parents take their minds off the doctors and allow them to clear their head from everything that is happening while they recharge in a different environment. What the family appreciates the most here, though, are the people in general—the families that come through here. Janet noted candidly:“you think that you’re by yourself in this world, but then you meet other families here… the people who you meet here allow you to experience it with someone else.”