My Friends and my Legos are my Lifesavers!

Kiki is famous here at Family House for his love for Legos. Kiki first came to Family House in February of 2010 for treatment for a major blood disease called Beta Thalassemia. A disease which inhibits an individuals red blood cells from carrying oxygen throughout the body. Kiki was lucky enough to receive a bone marrow transplant on March 31, 2010 from the international donor bank. Kiki had to spend fifty days in the hospital after his transplant.

While Kiki was in the hospital for those fifty days he played with Legos and built different models every single day. One day Kiki said, "My friends and my Legos are my lifesavers!" Kiki's grandmother, Katia thought that was a great title for something, and so the idea for an exhibit of Kiki's legos was born. Katia was the person who actually gave Kiki his first Lego set and from then his love only grew. In only 120 days while staying at Family House Kiki built 130 Lego Toys from more than 50,000 parts. The exhibition was held on July 26, at St. Anne's Church in the Sunset district and over a hundred people came out to support Kiki.

Katia said that the people here at Family House were a crucial part in making Kiki's exhibition a reality.

 She said "the people who work here work with their heart and soul, it is as if this were what they were destined to do. Family House is better then a regular family. A regular family will bicker and fight. This is more than a family. But there couldn't be a better name for it then family."

Katia went on saying how comfortable and at home they felt here. When she told Kiki that thety were coming back to Family House last Monday from Hawaii where they live. He replied, "I am going to my home. I get to go home again."  

While talking to her, she could not say thank you enough. From the beginning she said they felt at home here. They felt as though they had a support group who was always happy, and excited to celebrate when good news came, or be there when things went south.

She said, "You meet friends for a life here, like the Garcias. People become more than relatives. The individuals who work here don't just go the extra mile to help you, they go a 100 miles out of the way to do it. There will not be enough in my life to give back what they have given to us. My heart, soul, everything, our family, our entire family would help out in anyway and volunteer for Family House if we could." 

Though Kiki still has his ups and downs, the doctors say he is one of the most successful cases out of all the research studies. 

Remission is Only Part of the Journey

Remission, is a beautiful word for patients and families of individuals who are battling cancer. For the Yocupicio family this word has become a reality. Their fifteen year old son Raul has been battling Leukemia since October of 2009. As a result the Yocupicio family has spent the better part of the last two years living at Family House instead of their hometown of Modesto, CA. Their first stay, was for ten months while Raul underwent radiation and chemo. After the first round of treatment Raul was given the green light to go home, but relapsed in October of 2010. 

Since Raul's relapse Marcela, Humberto and their three other sons, Brian, Jordan, and Angel have called our 10th Avenue location home. Raul fought back after his relapse with another round of chemo and a bone marrow transplant which he received in March of 2010. The transplant and chemo worked, and Raul's doctor informed the Family of the good news just a few weeks ago. Though things are definitely looking up for the Yocupicios, Raul still has to undergo another round of more intensive chemo to insure that the cancer will never return. The boys will once again enroll in the San Francisco Unified School District so they can stay with their brother has he undergoes more treatment. 

Raul goes to the clinic three times a week, lab work is on Mondays, a lower lumbar puncher happens every Thursday, and every third week he checks into the hospital for five days of chemo, but through it all he has family by his side.

Raul's mother Marcela spoke highly of Family House saying,

"There is everything I need here. I feel more at home here then at my normal home. When I leave I am going to miss this place...I just feel so comfortable here." 

She praised the staff saying,

"The staff is so sweet, whenever you ask something, the always have the answer. And when they don't have it, they know who does, and make sure to get you the answer."

 We are so incredibly happy to hear the good news for Raul and the rest of the family, but when the time comes for them to leave it will be a bittersweet one. The Yocupicio's have made their way into the hearts of both the staff and the other families who call Family House home.

A Vision of Inspiration

It was 1994 when Austin Young first came to Family House. He was only six months old. Austin had been born with Retinoblastoma, a type of eye cancer commonly found in children. Austin and his family lived on and off at Family House until Austin was five, while he received radiation treatments to try and save his vision. A process his younger sister later would also have to endure for a few years with him.

Now, eleven years later Austin sits before me today as a seventeen year old with a driver's license about to start his senior year of high school. Sadly college visits aren't the only thing that brings Austin back to San Francisco. This past Easter Austin's sister notice a lump on his neck. It was Rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of cancer, a possible side effect of all the radiation Austin received as a child. Austin is back at Family House on and off for the next year while he receives radiation and chemo therapy. Despite a scar on Austin's neck, a side effect from his first surgery, you would never know he was sick. He speaks of his treatment in a very "matter of fact" fashion.

He said, "the good thing about getting both radiation and chemo at the same time is that the kind of chemo I get doesn't make me sick. I can't receive the more intense chemo that makes you sick while undergoing radiation. That's the benefit of my treatment."  

Austin's mom Bonnie, reminisced about their first stay at Family House as I sat and talked to them.
Before they found Family House, Bonnie said they stayed at this really cheap hotel down by the water in San Francisco. "It cost $50 for one night, and it was dirty and grimy."After that first night a social worker recommended them to Family House, a recommendation Bonnie will never forget. Over those first five years Bonnie said they probably stayed at Family House at least 30 times. 

She said, "it was like a vacation. The staff here knew how to bring joy back into life"

She spoke of the other families they grew close to in that time, who they still keep in touch with eleven years later. 

Austin's described his schedule for the week, "Monday afternoon I go in for radiation, Tuesday I spend the night in the hospital while I am receiving chemo, then Wednesday morning its another round of radiation.  Thursday and Friday I usually have more radiation and whatever other appointments I need to do before going home for the weekend."To most of us this seems like a miserable way to spend a week, but to Austin this is normal. This is what he has to do to get better, so he can go on to major in Computer Science in college a year from now like he wants to. 

Austin's remarkable life earned him an invite from one of his childhood doctors to go and speak before the first year medical students at the University of Pennsylvania last year.

Bonnie tried to describe what makes Family House special. She said, "It's a beautiful thing just for support...its not all good and dandy what we are all going through here, but it is more the understanding everyone has here. For us this is our life, it becomes kind of normal. Other people who aren't dealing with it often don't know how to react or handle it, but here everyone gets it because they are going through it too."

The Work We Do...

National Charity League

The National Charity League is an organization that brings mothers and daughters closer together by participating in service projects around their local community. Family House has been lucky enough to be one of the organizations NCL works with.

This summer once a week, every tuesday a group of mothers and daughters have donated their time to doing various jobs around the house such as restocking and organizing supplies in the house, arts and crafts projects, and marketing support.
Their time and support have been immense help this summer, and we are so greatful to have them as volunteers.

A Lesson in Hope - By Allyson Holminski

It was 1982.  I had just graduated from college in Los Angeles and moved back up north to San Francisco.  At that time, there was an outfit in SF called the Volunteer Bureau - if you wanted to volunteer, you called them and gave them your parameters, and they put you in touch with a needy organization that could use your time and talents.  "I would prefer to work with children, or maybe the elderly, and would like something face to face - not a hotline situation please..."

And thus began what has been a nearly 30 year relationship with Family House.

Back then, the house on Irving was the only facility - there was no 10th Avenue location, and the Annex in the hospital was just a glimmer in the mind of the fabulous Dr. Ablin.  The basement in Irving Street was not built out yet - it was kind of a dark and dank place, with a washing machine and scary shadows.  And when that basement went through its first improvement, what is now offices was a playroom with toys and games (mostly donated) and books (also donated, some rather dog-eared).

There was no Volunteer Coordinator back then - the House Manager (Meg, I think it was?) lived in a little apartment over the garage, and her domain included finding people who could volunteer and scheduling their time.  I went to Family House once a week, on Wednesday nights.  My job was to help families who arrived at night get checked in, show them around, and answer their questions.  If no families were arriving that night, my job (although I never really saw it as "work") was to play with kids, talk (or listen) to the parents, and just generally hang around and try to make people more comfortable.  I LOVED it!

I really felt connected when I encountered the same family on multiple nights.  Probably the most stunning example is Mac and Adam, from a small town in Idaho.  Adam was a precocious 11 year old with a brain tumor.  His father, Mac, brought him to SF for treatment, and then back again and again for follow up sessions.  At some point, Adam required months of chemo or radiation, and Mac and Adam stayed at FH for months on end.  Adam's mom stayed behind in Idaho with Adam's sibling(s).  I could always gauge how Adam was doing by the look on Mac's face when I walked in the door.

What has stuck with me all these years about Adam was his upbeat attitude, even when things weren't going as well as he wanted.  One time, he was talking to me about school.  He had missed quite a bit of school because of his trips to SF; even when he was home, sometimes school just wasn't in the cards.  "I just REALLY REALLY hope that I can go into 6th grade.  I REALLY don't want to have to repeat 5th grade....  I HOPE so much that I can move on...."  And then he became a bit wistful...  "But then, that's really all we can do is hope...."  And with that, he turned and continued playing with whatever had been occupying his attention before we began to chat.

WOW!  Really??!  How old are you??  From the mouths of babes and all that.

I think about Adam and Mac sometimes and wonder how Adam is.  That cherub-faced little boy would be about 40 now!  I wonder if his body continued to cooperate with his treatments and wishes.  I wonder if he found love and married.  Did he have children (a concern of Mac's, due to all the treatment he had to endure...)?

Those two people probably have NO idea the perspective they brought to my life, and that I still think of them.  I really REALLY hope that they are both still out there, enjoying life and each other.  But then, that's really all we can do is hope, right Adam?

The Thinkers

The Thinkers are a musical duo who brought music back to Family House last Friday, when they came to preform for the families at the 10th Avenue location. The dynamic pair first met freshman year of college when they lived together as roommates. Now they are on tour performing at libraries, children's museums, hospitals, and anywhere else where they think their music can bring joy to the children.

Bo and Matt googled "organizations in San Francisco to play for children", and found Family House. They sent us an email to see if they could perform for our kids, and of course we said yes. Their fun loving music

made even the adults giggle and dance last friday. They came fully equipt with suitcases filled with instruments, and their two stuffed dogs Bengy and Missy to add to the fun. They had all of the audience participating by the end of their set, and no one walked a way from the show without a smile on their face.

It was a wonderful treat for the kids at Family House, and it reminded us all how important and powerful music is. Hopefully The Thinkers will be able to grace us with another performance in the future, after how much fun the kids had with this last one.

It truly was a Zoot filled good time!

Their first album called OH ZOOOTY is available for purchase on their website:

http://www.thinkersmusic.com/