Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Honoree
benjamin rodriguez
Hodgkins Lymphoma
Survivor
Benny was diagnosed at the age of 9 years old. It started with a lump on his neck. After several doctor visits doctors ordered to have the lump removed August 15, 2019. Two days later, I got the worst call a parent can receive,. I was told Benny will need to have several rounds of chemo to kill off the remaining lumps the surgeon saw next to the lump he had removed. Right away his oncologist called me and he went through so many tests. Getting results was the hardest. Hearing his oncologist tell me “to do a fun thing over the weekend, as things were going to have to change for a while.” We set up his first chemo to start August 28, 2019.
The dates and times are very hard to forget for me as his mother. I spent a lot of time crying inside to stay strong in front of my son.
I remember that week I did not sleep, watching my Benny vomit, crying to me, asking what was happening and why he felt the way he did.
Seeing his hair fall off in the first round of chemo was the hardest for me, my Benny and my family. that’s when it hit all of us, My son has Cancer. After several admissions in the hospital, transfusions and a whole bunch of blood work, eventually we started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. My Benny is now 13 going on 14 years old. He has been in remission and we pray he keeps growing as the healthy boy we all want him to be.
The Childhood Cancer Foundation of So Cal has always been there to help us, with events, holiday parties and support. We are FOREVER grateful!!! We can say it helped us as we went through a hard time. CCF events were so welcoming as we saw many children going through several similar stories. Made my Benny feel he wasn’t the only one going through a hard time.
-Beatriz Rodriguez, mother