Everything was going well in Jennifer Valdés Guzmán’s life, until one day she was diagnosed with leukemia.
I was 18 years old and about to graduate from high school in The Bronx, New York.
Due to his illness, he was unable to attend the graduation ceremony.
“It was August 2022 and suddenly I felt some lumps appear on my neck,” Jennifer said. “I thought they would go away, but September came and nothing.”
In October of that year, her birthday present was a trip to Guerrero, Mexico, where her parents, Ismael and Enedina, are from.
“In Mexico, my condition worsened, but I didn’t know I had cancer. My body began to change a lot, and from one day to the next, I didn’t feel well, until I was admitted to a hospital for three days,” she recalled.
After several studies, the news came: Jennifer, now 19, had leukemia.
Leukemia is cancer of the body’s blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and lymphatic system.
There are many types of leukemia. Some forms of leukemia are more common in children. Others occur mainly in adults.
“I used to like going shopping with my friends and I can’t do that right now,” Jennifer said. “But my parents and five siblings have been angels in my life; they have always been there for me and make me laugh a lot.”
Jennifer and 27 other children and teenagers from Florida, Texas, and Washington who are battling cancer are part of the Sunshine Kids Foundation. They spent a week on vacation in Southern California. They visited, among other places, the Disneyland theme park, the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, and Elysian Park, at the Los Angeles Police Academy.
At the latter location, and as it has been for more than two decades, some 45 active and reserve LAPD police officers stood in two rows and greeted the children with applause.
“The LAPD’s dedication and generosity in embracing the mission of Sunshine Kids has positively impacted the lives of countless children with cancer in the greater Los Angeles area and across the country,” Jennifer Wisler, executive director of the foundation, told La Opinión. “The partnership between the LAPD and Sunshine Kids exemplifies the best of community spirit and commitment.”
The impact of law enforcement involvement showed that children are not alone in their struggle, Whisler added.
“Their efforts create a sense of hope and connection that transcends the fear and uncertainty that children are experiencing during their battle with cancer,” she said. “These days will become an integral and collaborative part of their journey toward a brighter tomorrow.”
Cancer incidence in children and adolescents
According to the American Cancer Society, about 9,620 children under the age of 15 in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer by 2024.
Incidence rates for childhood cancer overall have leveled off since 2015, after increasing since at least 1975, the organization reports, noting that because of advances in treatment in recent decades, about 85% of children with cancer now live 5 years or more after being diagnosed with cancer.
The American Cancer Association itself reveals that around 5,000 to 6,000 adolescents aged 15 to 19 are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States, and between 500 and 600 adolescents die from cancer each year, with cancer being the fourth cause of death, only behind accidents, suicide and homicide.
The chances of getting cancer are about the same for teenage boys and girls, but cancer survival rates are slightly higher for girls than for boys.
“We have heart”
Among the reserve officers who took part in the reception of the Sunshine Kids were businessmen, doctors, accountants who put the LAPD insignia on their uniforms, and became patrol officers, traffic officers or helicopter pilots.
“The reason we all became police officers and why reserve officers became police officers is because we have heart,” said LAPD Deputy Chief Blake Chow.
“Underneath our badge beats a caring heart for people; we realize that we can make a difference in people’s lives. These children are going through a battle with cancer that no one should have to go through, and when these children leave here today, they will remember this experience for a long time.”
“God put me to the test”
Originally from Wenatchee, Washington, Jonathan Thompson, a cheerful, enthusiastic, outgoing and sociable young man, told La Opinión that in May 2023 he was playing soccer with a friend, he tackled him hard and suffered a blow to the neck.
“I felt a little bloated, but I didn’t pay any attention to it,” the 17-year-old said. “A few weeks later it was getting huge.”
The lump was examined by the doctors. They took blood and the test showed that he had cancer. His mother and sister were crying and Johnny didn’t know what to think.
“I was in shock. I just had no emotions to comfort me. And then I had to go to school and tell my friends. It was all very hard for me. So, I started crying,” Johnny said.
The hardest part for him was being out of school. Johnny had to go to Seattle, away from his friends and family, and be in the hospital for long periods of time.
“I hate being in a hospital,” the boy said. “It takes a lot out of you.”
Johnny considers his mother and sister to have been two “angels” who have been taking care of him and believes that God has worked a miracle in his recovery.
“It’s hard to say, but I think it was God who tested me to see how strong I was,” he said. “When all this is over, I want to be an influencer; I want to be an inspiration. I want to spread my story, be successful, work, hopefully a wife and have lots of nieces and nephews.”
Similarly, Jennifer Valdés Guzmán, who aspires to be an elementary school teacher, said that her faith has been important in trusting in the complete remission of her leukemia.
In November of this year she could be discharged from the hospital and recover the energy that the continuous chemotherapy sessions were always stealing from her body.
“I always asked the Virgin of Guadalupe to intercede for me, and God worked the miracle of my healing, in addition to the doctors,” she said. “I also thank my family for their blessings and the support of those who make Sunshine Kids a foundation of love and help for those of us who had to face cancer.”
The Sunshine Kids Foundation was founded by Rhoda Tomasco in 1982 while she was volunteering in the pediatric cancer unit of a hospital in Houston, Texas.
War on cancer
Two years ago, Gaby Rangel, an immigrant from Venezuela, and her family were calmly watching a soccer match between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Days earlier, she had gone to a doctor in Dallas, Texas, thinking she was suffering from anemia and was subjected to blood tests. Life-threatening anemia means having hemoglobin below 6.5 grams per deciliter of blood.
It was literally by accident that, through a phone call, the 19-year-old girl found out on October 16, 2022 that she had cancer: leukemia.
“The doctors said that she had a hemoglobin level of 3. That meant that she had less blood than a newborn baby,” Gaby told La Opinión.
At a hospital, Gaby was given an immediate blood transfusion.
“I was in the emergency room all night,” she recalled. “My parents were crying… I was just in shock until I asked my doctor if my hair was going to fall out.”
When cancer’s answer was yes, Gaby burst into tears.
“Honestly, my doctors and my family, my nurses and my friends are the biggest support I can have and they helped me a lot with all of this,” she admitted.
“Everyone who is part of Sunshine Kids is amazing. It is a foundation full of love and they help me every day,” said Gaby, who was born in Cabimas, a city on the shores of Lake Maracaibo in the state of Zulia, in northwestern Venezuela. “I am very grateful to them.”
During the process of chemotherapy and recovery from leukemia, Gaby lost her hair, something that causes pain to many girls and women, due to the value they place on their physical appearance.
She is not like that.
“Hair gives us an identity. You cut your hair and you look different; you cut it shorter or longer, you put something in it and you look different,” she said with complete maturity. “These are changes in identity, and when they told me I had cancer and I had to cut my hair, I thought: ‘Even if I don’t want what’s going to happen, let’s just let it happen.’”
From Dallas, Texas, via telephone, her mother, Marianela Cañizales, told La Opinión that a father or mother never wants their children to have or live in those conditions.
“You never imagine that your child is going to have to live through that experience,” said Gaby’s mother. “It has been a tough process since the moment we got the news…it’s like they turned off the light and you go blind for a moment, as if they took everything away from you, because it’s your children’s lives.”
For the mother, it was important to know that a doctor informed her and her husband Gustavo Rangel that Gaby had between 85% and 90% chance of overcoming leukemia, which was not very aggressive.
“She [Gaby] He began his treatment and we, as Venezuelans, are from a very family-oriented culture. We have many moral and spiritual foundations that have allowed us to develop as good people in society,” he said.
In addition to both of them giving their all to the care of their daughter, they gave her support, love and affection so that Gaby never felt unprotected or afraid.
On a calmer day, in a conversation with her husband, they shared the days of suffering, of seeing her daughter’s battles with the treatments that psychologically affect so many people.
“But I am amazed at Gaby’s mental power. We never, ever, ever saw her express fear, worry, anxiety or depression,” said Gaby’s mother. “On the contrary, she strengthened us all. The strength that this little girl gave us was impressive.”
“My little girl would say to me: Mommy, why are you crying? Don’t worry, I’m going to get through this, I’m going to get over this. Mommy, we’re all going to get through this.”
Such is the willpower of Gaby Rangel, who could be free of all danger by the end of February 2025, that she already thinks that in 10 years she sees herself graduating with a psychology degree specializing in children with cancer.
But before that, she said, “I want to go to Hawaii. It’s a dream I have and I’m going to make it happen.”