Hana's Home

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Maddie’s Journey, by Jenny DeHart

My daughter, Madison, was 13 when she was diagnosed with cancer.  It was June of 2011 and I took  3 of my children to the doctor to get their Whooping Cough vaccination.  While we were there and after the Dr. left the room, I asked the nurse if it was ok for Maddie to have the shot if she had whooping cough already.  When she went out to ask the Dr. he advised us to go to the ER before having the vaccination just in case.  I waited a few hours and we went after dinner, around 7:30 that night.  After 2 hours and chest x-rays, we found out that Maddie had a massive tumor in her chest behind her right lung, and as it grew it was pushing on her lungs and causing the cough.  We knew within two weeks that the tumor was cancerous, and so our journey began.

On August 5, 2011, Maddie had what we refer to as her "big surgery".  It was a scary day for me, as things drastically changed the day before when we went for her pre-op appointment.  At first I had been told that they would be removing the tumor from her side, under her arm, and no scar would show, and that they were allowing 5 hours for her surgery.  During the pre-op, I was informed that the surgery now was scheduled for the whole day, and that the tumor was wrapped around the arteries to her head and right arm, as well as the nerves to her diaphragm and vocal chords.  They also let me know that they would be opening up her chest to get it out.   I was horrified and they went further in telling me that if they removed the whole tumor, they would have to remove her right arm and she would not have a voice anymore.   I didn't have time to process any of this at all, she was going in the very next day.

About four hours into the surgery, the Dr. called me in the waiting room and told me that the MRI was wrong and the tumor was NOT wrapped around all those important arteries and nerves!!  That was our first miracle.  When I saw my sweet Maddie 6 hours later, she was in ICU with every tube imaginable connected to her, but I saw her right arm, and about 20 minutes later I heard her sweet voice, and I knew that she was going to be ok.

Eight days later, when she was discharged from the hospital, and we began our two hour drive home to Turlock, California.  We were an hour and half away from home, and I received a phone call from her oncologist at UCSF with more devastating news.  The pathology report had come back on the tumor and it showed a very aggressive cancer which indicated that Maddie would need to have chemo and radiation.  They gave her a "small" break after her "big surgery" of one month, before she had surgery to insert a port into her chest, and she began chemo that same day, September 6, 2011.

This is when our second miracle occurred.  We were referred to Family House and they became our second home for the next 6 months.  I say "they" because the people of family house made us feel as though we were home.  The first person we met was Kara.  She did our orientation and had nothing but a smile on her face the whole time!!  She was our first contact in our "new home".  Subsequently, meeting everyone else, John, Joe, Greg, Amy and now Karen,  was amazing!!  Family House became our home, and the people who work there, and the families that stay there are who made that happen.

We needed that miracle because Maddie and I were separated from the other children for the majority of 6 months.  It was very difficult on our our little family.  The staff was so consistent through support, from activities for Maddie, everything they provided in the house, and even just basic conversations, or simple smiles and hugs that helped us get through our day.  They were always encouraging us and always there for us when we needed them the most!  They MADE Family House a home for us, not just a house.

Our third miracle came when the Doctor declared that Maddie was cancer free on February 13, 2012.  She then had her port removed on Valentine's Day.   The only thing that was bittersweet about that news, was that we had to go to our real home.  Of course we WANTED to go home, to reunite with the other kids, but leaving Family House was so hard.  They were by our side through the darkest time in our lives and we had to leave them.

Next week it will be 2 years since Madison was declared "Cancer Free".  She is 15 years old now and thriving in school, actually in all aspects of her life.  We have been given the opportunity to be able to stay at Family House periodically over the past two years for her check ups that will continue for 3 more years, regularly.  It feels good when we get to "go home", and know that we will be welcomed and loved by all our "family" there.

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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. 

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