Family House Family Stories: Sarah's Story

Watch the latest Family House Family Stories Video: Sarah’s Story, and learn how you can help cancer fighters like Sarah: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/donate.html

Family House Family Stories: Brian Beating Cancer

Watch the latest Family House Family Stories video - Brian Beating Cancer

Learn more about how you can help kids like Brian defeat cancer:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/donate.html

Family House Family Stories: Jayme's Journey

Watch the latest Family House Family Stories video: Jayme's Journey

This remarkable young woman is an inspiration to us all (and also lots of fun to hang out with!)

Click here to learn more about Family House families:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html 

Hana's Home

Watch the latest Family House Family Stories video, "Hana's Home"

Watch more Family Stories videos at https://www.youtube.com/FamilyHouseInc

A Cancer Survivor Looks Back

What would you do if you found out your 5-year-old had cancer?

In February of 2000, Matt and Mary Ferrick noticed their son was limping, and they did what any parent would do - they brought him to the doctor. Scans revealed that a previously-undetected tumor in his stomach had now spread to his hip. Jay was rushed 100 miles from their home in Ukiah to UCSF to be treated for stage 4 neuroblastoma. Pulled out of kindergarten, he was admitted to the hospital, and his family stayed at Family House on and off for 14 months while he underwent chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and a stem cell transplant.

"One thing I remember about the Family House is that I always looked forward to going.  Especially I remember because there were video games in the downstairs living room, and me and my little brother looked forward to playing video games because we didn't have them at home," recalls Jay, now 19 years old and a healthy sophomore at Chico State.

"Jay is doing very well, he lives a normal life, and is able to do everything that everybody else does.  He's been 12-13 years in remission now.  Of the type of cancer he had, 70% of the kids relapse, but Jay has been healthy since he completed his treatment. It's been a blessing to put it in the rear view mirror," says his father, Matt.

"Family House provided support for the whole family…  [For Jay's younger brother, Thomas,] having a sibling who's getting all the attention - some people really struggle with that, feeling they're in the background…. we've always tried to make them feel equal." Playing Nintendo in the Family House living room was a highlight for both boys. "[Thomas] thought it was a big thrill to go to San Francisco and see his big brother;" at only 3 years old at the time, he couldn't comprehend the seriousness of the situation, Matt recalls.

Jay's oncologist, Dr. Katherine Matthay, says that "Neuroblastoma is a very, very serious cancer that we find only in young children. More than 50% of children already have the cancer spread to their bones and their bone marrow at the time the cancer is detected." At the time of Jay's diagnosis and treatment, fewer than 15% of children survived metastatic neuroblastoma.

Dick and Anne Grace of Grace Family Vineyards are longtime Family House supporters, and have even awarded a grant to Dr. Matthay for cancer research. The targeted radiotherapy treatment that was developed from that grant is now one of the most active treatments for widespread and resistant neuroblastoma.  Dick says, "Annie and I had the extraordinary privilege of walking a portion of Jay's cure path alongside both he and his family, and it was there that we got the opportunity to see the courage and see the commitment and the resolve that he had in navigating this path."

Looking back, Jay hopes that his battle with cancer will be an inspiration to others who are currently undergoing treatment. "When we go to UCSF, we visit '7 Long,' the floor I was on, and I see all the kids there, and I hope that they see how I am, and hope that they can be cured and be a regular kid like me."

We are delighted that the Ferricks continue to be part of the Family House family!

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http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html

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Family House Family Stories videos - Cara's Cure

Watch the latest Family House Family Stories video - Cara's Cure

Click here to learn more about Family House families:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html 

More Than a Hat, an interview with Brenda Orr

How did you first hear of Family House, and why did you decide to get involved?

I first heard about Family House when one of the teachers at Toro Park School (in Salinas, California) asked the staff if they could donate caps in the month of December to give to Family House.  When I went shopping, I could only afford 1-2 caps; [but I realized] I could pick out a pattern and sew caps a lot cheaper.  That was the start of my fleece cap campaign.  I’ve been making them ever since.

Fleece hats are your signature, how do you come up with the patterns and designs?

The pattern is from a pattern book.  There are only 2 pattern pieces.  They’re easy to cut out and easy to sew.  I buy fabric from a store in Morgan Hill that gives me discounts.  I buy fabric about once a month.  I love the old town Morgan Hill, so I treat myself to a trip downtown and visit my favorite shops.

When I make my caps, I usually make 20-30 or more.  I try to make an equal number of boys and girls caps.  I also make various sizes.

What do you do when you’re not making hats for Family House?

I am currently trying to get involved with the “Look Good, Feel Better” program through the American Cancer Society.  I like to make hats for ladies.  I have 3 different styles that I sew.

I am newly retired from teaching.  I am able to sew, swim, hike, read, take small trips, volunteer, and update my condo.

Last thoughts?

I’m real impressed with Family House.  The way they treat their patients and families is wonderful.  They’re organized and inspired.  Keep up the good work!

You can get involved with Family House! Learn more at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html

Family House Family Stories Videos

Have you seen the latest Family House Family Stories videos?  Since being introduced in June (Nino's Story), we have released two more Family Stories videos - Amenah & Anthony, and Jack's Tale.  While each story is very different, they share the same themes - love, community, compassion, gratefulness, and strength.

We plan to release a new Family Story video each month - be sure to subscribe to the Family House Youtube Channel and sign up to receive our newsletters.

Please view and share these videos - by sharing the mission of Family House, it builds our community, enabling us to help even more families in need.  Thank you!

Click here to learn more about Family House families:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html 

Founder to Founder, by Arthur Ablin, M.D., December 2012

Sit down with me for a few minutes and become moved as I have by this touching yet uplifting story about one of our Family House’s remarkable and resilient patients and his loving, supportive family.

Austin Young, now 18 years old was stricken (yes, that’s the word) at 6 months of age with a cancer of the retinas of both his eyes. The stage of his cancer, a retinoblastoma, was such that without treatment he would certainly have rapidly become blind and died as a young child. Infant Austin and his family were presented with devastating alternative choices for treatment: One was the immediate removal of both eyes with instant blindness; The other option available was radiation therapy to both of his infant eyes with only a hope, not a promise, that his life could be saved with a slight possibility that some modicum of vision might be retained. The price for this latter choice would be cataracts in both eyes with obvious facial changes as the rest of his face and head grew. If that were not overwhelming by itself, survivors of retinblastoma of both eyes have a high life-long chance of developing other cancers later increased by the very radiation therapy used to treat the original retinoblastoma. Those second cancers are difficult to treat and may or may not be curable.

Imagine with me the stresses associated with decision making this family was going through. No good choices, only bad or worse ones. How can anyone be asked to make them? It doesn’t seem fair to ask any parent to make these decisions for their child. Exacting daily radiation therapy in the UCSF Department of Radiation Oncology for several weeks requiring motionless eyes and therefore, daily anesthesia for several weeks was their least horrendous treatment choice. The family stayed at Family House during these many weeks of radiation and the monthly follow up visits for many years. During that time and the innumerable check-up examinations required, Austin, his parents and sister, Bonnie, David, and Lauren called Family House home. They survived and Austin adjusted, even excelled with remarkable strength of character in spite of his impaired vision and physical disability.

Now 18 years later, 6 foot delightful Austin is blind in his left eye and has 20/200 vision in his right eye (sees at 20 feet what a person with normal vision can see at 200 feet). He has under growth of the mid portion of his face making him easily distinguishable among his peers, an appearance with which he has become comfortable because of his engaging, pleasant smile, a twinkle in his poorly sighted eyes and his quiet demeanor. If that were not enough, more of the medical story continues. At age 16, 2 years ago, cured from his retinoblastoma, a popular, productive and bright sophomore in Bella Vista high school dealing successfully with his visual and physical disabilities, Austin and his family discovered a rapidly growing lump in his left upper neck. Austin had developed a different, second cancer at the left side of his face. It required a meticulous 16 hour operation, then months of chemotherapy with further radiation therapy. Long stays in at UCSF and at Family House were then again required with the hope this second cancer had been cured. Unfortunately, less than a year later there is a recurrence of his rhabdomyosarcoma. Austin and his family are guests again at Family House while he is receiving yet another course of alternative chemotherapy and cyber knife radiation surgery. Austin and his family know the outcome of this treatment is questionable but face this with realistic optimism, humor and characteristic determination.

In spite of missing many days and weeks of school Austin managed to keep up with his class work, and recently graduated from high school and has been accepted to start U.C. Davis. High intensive chemotherapy and radiation therapy require that he defers Davis now. Austin recognizes the important role Family House has been for him and his family, both in the support with other families over the years and the high cost that would have resulted in finding accommodations in San Francisco. To express appreciation to Family House for all that he and his family received, Austin, whose goal in life is to become a computer engineer, created a social event called “Gaming 4 a Cause” to support Family House. He elicited support from classmates and with his and their parents established a non-profit charity of which he is the president. His 17 and 18 year old classmates are the vice-president, financial officer, treasurer and publicity director, and secretary. This team has acquired the necessary hardware through contributions and careful purchasing , arranged rent-free space at Fuddrucker’s World’s Greatest Hamburger restaurant outside of Sacramento where they hold week-end events charging small entrance fees. Participants form teams which compete to win electronic prizes such as controllers, mice and software. During the past several months attendance has steadily grown and the profits for an evening of spirited fun and clean sociability have been as high as $1600. The restaurant is glad to have them! As the popularity increases and all the details of his enterprise are further fine-tuned, Austin and his sister Lauren are spreading the word and know how of Gaming 4 a Cause to other schools hoping to multiply the profits for Family House. A quiet smile creeps over his face, his poorly sighted eyes twinkle and he softly says “It’s for Family House.” Go Austin! Go Youngs! Go Family House! We are here for each other and all other thousands of children and their families that are called Family House.

July 2013 UPDATE: Austin has finished chemotherapy and radiation, and is headed to UC Davis this fall.  Keep an eye on Gaming 4 a Cause happenings at www.gaming4acause.org

Click here to learn more about Family House families:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html 

My Fight Against Cancer - Ariana Argueta ’12

As part of the UCSF community, we are privileged to know people that have experienced hardships while having to relocate for treatment. All of our families come from at least 50 miles away similar to this family. The Argueta family allowed us to share this story with the Family House community.   

My Fight Against Cancer

Ariana Argueta ’12

September 11, 2009, was the day my world was turned upside-down. Typical teenage girls usually think about boys, grades, and sports—all normal things that I was focused on, too, prior to my own 9/11. That was the day I was diagnosed with brain cancer, and, from then until now, cancer has been on my mind most of the time.

When I first heard the word “cancer” two years ago, I knew the stereotypes associated with people who have it, but I didn’t really understand what was going to happen to me. I told myself that I might just have surgery, miss a few weeks of school, and then get back to life as usual. At the same time, I immediately started worrying about losing all my hair. Though I knew it would grow back, I also knew I would have to look like a different person for some time. The doctor said I would have a little scar. It wasn’t long before the reality of what I was facing became clear.

My surgery took seventeen hours to completely remove the tumor. I later found out my parents had been told I might not walk, talk, or eat on my own again afterward. My treatment was just getting started.

In the year after my surgery, I experienced monthly chemotherapy and radiation as an inpatient at UCSF Hospital. During the first six weeks of my treatment, my parents and I had to live in San Francisco. We had to leave my younger sister and Grandma behind. We had to leave our normal lives behind. Due to the radiation therapy, I did lose a significant amount of my hair. The little scar the doctor said I would have did not turn out to be quite so little. My self-esteem took a big hit. On top of that, I was underweight; I had a significant weight loss of 27 pounds, and there was no easy way of gaining it back when I had no appetite at all. I felt that I had lost my identity, and I realized this was still just the beginning of a long battle.

Once I came to terms with losing my hair and the other changes in my appearance, I began to worry about all the homework assignments and confirmation classes I would be missing. I wondered whether or not I would ever catch up. School has always been a top priority for me. Thus, falling behind in classes and not being able to graduate with my class was one of my biggest concerns. Although I knew I had the support of my teachers, missing so much class affected my confidence in my ability to do well in school. And the surgery and the cancer treatments did make learning harder for me than it was before—particularly memorization. But I came to school when I could and kept going.

I was asked recently which was worse— getting diagnosed with cancer or going through the treatment—and I have to say that the fear and the uncertainty around getting diagnosed might have been the worst of it. But I never asked, “Why me?” I didn’t dwell on that. Once the treatment started, I just took each day as it came.

Besides the sickness itself and the different treatments (which also made me sick), what was hard for me was the realization that my relationships were changing. Old friendships disappeared. People I had been close to moved on. I started to feel that people feared me. New friendships that I made in the hospital turned out to be very short-lived. A baby boy I knew died after six months. My family and I were always committed to the Catholic Church, but these experiences made my faith more and more important to me. And that brings me to a bright spot in my story.

In March 2010, I was interviewed by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They asked me what my greatest wish was. I am not sure how I would have answered that before I had cancer, but material things interested me a lot less than they used to, so I told them that, if I could go anywhere in the world and meet anyone, I would like to meet the Pope, who is so special to my religion. Somehow, the Make-A-Wish Foundation made it happen, and on October 20, 2010, my family and I went to Rome, and I had an audience with the Pope. When I was asked about my impressions of the event, I remembered that I really couldn’t understand much of what the Holy Father said to me. His German accent was very strong, there was classical music playing loudly in the background, and people in the crowd were shouting, “Papa! Papa!” But it didn’t matter that I couldn’t quite make out what he said. The Pope’s gaze was very powerful. There was something about his eyes. And when he took my hand, I noticed his very large gold ring set with a red stone. I had the feeling that this was the closest I could get on Earth to meeting God. It was truly magical. The Pope’s blessing left me feeling empowered and really has helped me cope with my difficulties.

This is a very small snapshot of my life in the last two years. During my fight against cancer, I have realized that my faith and family are the most important things to me. Through the difficulties, I have learned a lot about myself. My faith in God has grown immensely. I have learned to put worries like regaining my weight, growing my hair, and graduating with my class in His hands. I have also learned to truly value my family, because they have demonstrated unconditional love and support for me. Cancer may have changed me forever, but it does not define me. The way I choose to live does. I have learned not to worry about the small things in life and literally to live one day at a time, because we can’t control yesterday or tomorrow. Today is the only reality we can live in. We have to make it count.

Ariana Loren Argueta, our "Ari", was given to us by God on February 3, 1994. On September 11, 2009 Ariana was diagnosed with pediatric brain cancer and returned home to our Holy Father on November 17, 2012. 

Click here to learn more about Family House families:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html

A World Record Achieved: The Anderson Family Story

Erin Anderson admires the strength of her daughter, Haven, calling her "a Marine in a two-year old’s body."  Haven was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma on April 17, 2012, just two weeks after her second birthday. Treatment began in her hometown of Denver, Colorado, but she arrived at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital after her first round of chemo proved unsuccessful.

Haven is currently undergoing a groundbreaking two week treatment at UCSF— something that has never been performed on a child her age.  Erin feels blessed to have access to this level of care for her daughter.  Upon arriving at Family House she felt immediate relief because it feels like home to her family and allows them to be incredibly close to the hospital at all times.  She loves getting to know everyone at Family House.  “It feels like a little family because everyone is going through what you’re going through.”


One thing Haven has to look forward to when she goes home to Denver: recognition for a world record achieved in her name!  Erin’s colleagues, family, and friends created a fundraising event called “Shavin' for Haven”, which began on a small scale this May.  Erin’s fellow teachers pledged to shave their heads if they could meet their fundraising goals for Haven’s treatment.  After the fundraiser’s success, they applied to the Guinness Book of World Records and took the idea to a larger scale on October 22nd.  The Andersons blew the previous record out of the water and shaved 371 heads in one hour, all in honor of their incredible daughter.

Erin and her husband are so relieved to have all the resources that Family House offers— they don't have to worry about where they'll be able to shower, eat, and take a much-needed deep breath between stints at the hospital. As for their daughter? “This is not a kind of cancer you ever want to have,” Erin explains, “But we are incredibly hopeful and faithful that this will be a positive outcome for Haven.”

Click here to learn more about Family House families:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html 

The Atwood Family Story

Karissa, Luke, John, and Laci @ Family House

The Atwood family is currently facing an illness that changed their life in an instant. Only two months ago, on February 21st of this year, parents John and Karissa learned that their youngest child Laci had cancer. After the diagnosis of embryonal botryoid rhabdomyosarcoma—which is one of the more common, tumorous forms of childhood cancers—the Atwood’s life has been a whirlwind. As it turned out, although Laci had a common type of cancer, hers was incredibly rare in its location; located in her ear and temporal bone, less than one millimeter from her brain, surgery was not an option. What all of this meant was that Laci was now classified as having Stage III cancer and would have to undergo a 42 week treatment plan, involving both chemotherapy and radiation.

The Atwood’s immediately began the treatment process at their home in Fresno, CA, but were halted shortly thereafter when their hospital’s radiation machine broke. John, Karissa, Laci, and 5 year old brother Luke were forced to move quickly: it was 9 PM the night they learned that they needed to be transferred up to San Francisco, and they had to be at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital by 9 AM the next morning. The family remembers being told that they were going to stay at Family House, and that everything was already set up for their arrival. However, John was skeptical at first—a feeling that many families may have upon their impending arrival to this new home away from home.  He laughed, confessing that on that first night he took his family to stay at a hotel instead.

After being here for over three weeks, John was happy to share that his feelings of uneasiness about coming to Family House have completely subsided. He noted that even if his family could afford a different living situation while up here in San Francisco, they would still choose to be at Family House. He summed it up, saying that they “wouldn’t do it any other way”. When asked what they like most about Family House, John and Karissa agreed that the feeling of community between all the families staying here is one of the best perks. Whether they are connecting with families going through the same diagnosis that they are, or whether they are learning about different situations than theirs, the Atwood’s appreciate being able to share this time with a new, inner support group. In fact, they said that they have formed life-long friendships in the few weeks that they have been here. These newly formed friendships, as well as the supportive staff, have led John to remark that by being here he has changed for the better.