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

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Family House Staff Spotlight: Jessica Creager

Interview with Jessica Creager, Director of Finance and Special Events

How did you come to be at Family House?
When I first started at Family House in November 1997, as Assistant Administrator, there were only three full-time staff members. I heard about the position through the then-Executive Director, Cliff Berg, who was looking for someone who knew how to do Quickbooks, and I had that experience. I never knew about Family House before I was offered the job, but I've grown to love it!

How has Family House Changed since you first started?
When I first started, we housed 10 families a night, and now we house 34 families a night.  We had only one building; now we have two.  The annual budget has increased from $350,000 to $1.6 million. We were only three staffers, and there's eleven of us now.

What are some of your favorite Family House memories?
The Giants stadium AT&T Ballpark event! We got to celebrate Family House's 30th Anniversary with families from so many different years. It was great to see so many families that I've gotten to know while working at Family House, and to see the continuity.

Also, getting to know Nayiri Torigian, who was a young woman who battled cancer. She and her family, they were just so sweet.  She sadly passed away, but getting to know that family was really important, especially important for me, for when I later went through cancer treatment.  She was inspiring to me.

Working at Family house before my cancer diagnosis gave me so much insight to what was coming. Knowing all the kids and all the families that I'd met actually made me more brave in the face of dealing with the treatments. Treatment wasn't as scary to me because I had known personally, especially little ones, who had faced it with no problems.  So, I figured I couldn't be a total wimp about the whole thing!  [Laughs.]  The great acceptance I felt, having a personal illness, and coming back and being greeted with open arms…  not ostracized, not something strange, since at Family House, it's the norm. I've been cancer-free since 2002, and am now officially cured!

Another great thing about being at Family House has been getting to know Family House founders, The Ablins.  They've been so welcoming to me, kind of treating me like family through all these years.  It's been an honor to get to know them and hear their stories, and how they started Family House, but also how they've done so many other amazing things throughout their lives.

Learn more about the caring staff at Family House:  http://www.familyhouseinc.org/staff.html 

Our first Mission Bay success!

Our first Mission Bay success!  Thanks to the overwhelming response of letters in support of the new Family House at Mission Bay, we are happy to report the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency has approved our petition to move forward with land acquisition.  We still face several more Committees before the land is officially ours, and we appreciate your ongoing support and love!

Read the latest about the Nancy & Stephen Grand Family House at Mission Bay: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/mission-bay.html

Jessica Schroeder: How I Got Involved as a Volunteer with Family House

 In September 2009, Jessica Schroeder was hired at Triage Consulting Group, one of the companies that frequently participates in group volunteer projects at Family House.  With Triage, she participated in "done in a day" volunteer projects that included painting and deep-cleaning bedrooms and common areas.

"I fell in love with the organization and the mission immediately," says Jessica, and she contacted our volunteer coordinators to find out how she could get involved outside of work.  That's when she started as an Event Volunteer in her free time, helping out with various fundraising events such as Cabernet for Connoisseurs and San Francisco Magazine's Best of the Bay party.

Jessica wanted to be a bigger part of Family House, so she joined the Young Professionals Advisory Council in January 2011. As a YPAC member, Jessica was able to take on the role of Volunteer Captain at events, organizing as many as 70 volunteers for a single event.  As Senior Associate Consultant at Triage, she is now also the liaison between Family House and Triage, and is one of the leads for bigger volunteer projects like Triage Founders Day, where a group takes the lead on renovations of bedrooms by painting, installing closet organizers, and adding wall art "to make the rooms feel more like home."

When she's not at Family House, you can find Jessica running, cooking, reading, or traveling.  She'll be starting at Darden School of Business (University of Virginia) this fall.

To learn more about YPAC or volunteering with Family House, please visit our website: http://familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.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 Fernandes Family Story

The Fernandes Family

The Fernandes' journey in San Francisco and with Family House began in 2010 when their son Frankie was found to have a tumor at the base of his neck. Frank Fernandes and his wife Diane would like to share Frankie's story, from his point of view:

"Hi,
My name is Frankie and when I was 5 years old I was having a lot of neck pain, so my mommy and daddy took me to the doctor. It all started about June 18th when I started having this really bad neck pain. The pain would come and go. We went on our family vacation to Disneyworld the last week of June and I didn't feel real good, I was tired and my neck kept bothering me. On 4th of July I had a really bad episode and my parents took me to the ER at Kaweah Delta, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong so they gave me some motrin and tylenol, and sent me home. Two days later I went to see my doctor. Dr. McNich did some x-Rays of my neck and a swab of my throat everything looked normal and she was stumped, so she sent us to Childrens Hospital in Madera. On July 12, 2010 we found out, from the doctors at Valley Childrens in Madera, that I had a tumor at the base of my brain. They decided to send us to UCSF San Francisco since they are the best for these types of tumors. This is where we learned I had a tumor called a Clival Chordoma and I would need to have surgery to remove it. After a couple months at UCSF I then underwent 8 weeks of Proton radiation treatment so that my tumor would not come back."

Frankie at UCSF hospital

Unfortunately, as is the case with many of our families, this was only the beginning of the treatment process Frankie would need to undergo. Over the course of the last two years, the family has kept a personal website including journals that they wrote to detail day to day struggles and triumphs over the course of Frankie's treatment, as well as Family House and its importance to them (see journal from 3-21-2012). Frank and Diane would love to pass their website info on to all, so everyone can read their journals. Please visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/frankiefernandes to learn more about the Fernandes family's story!

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.”