GO GOLD FOR CRUZ & Kids everywhere with similar stories 🎗️
This is Cruz’s Story From Stage Four to Cancer Free
On July 11, 2025, our world changed forever. Cruz had just turned two. For more than a month, we knew something wasn't right. We were repeatedly told constipation and sent home, but we knew our baby. When Cruz began vomiting and a mass became visible in his little belly, we took him to another hospital. An ultrasound found a large mass in his abdomen, and soon we heard the words no parent is ever prepared for: Stage 4 neuroblastoma.
Within a week, Cruz began chemotherapy. He endured five rounds, lost his hair, and went from being a carefree two-year-old to fighting for his life. When it was time for surgery, we prayed and felt led to New York. We packed our bags thinking we would be gone for three weeks, but we didn't come home for four months.
To give Cruz the care he needed, we had to leave our daughter home with her grandma to protect some sense of normalcy for her. It was one of the hardest seasons our family has ever endured. We were trying to stay strong while watching our little boy fight cancer, all while missing our daughter and the family we normally leaned on for strength.
Cruz underwent a major surgery and continued fighting through treatment and immunotherapy. There were hospital rooms, sleepless nights, terrifying scans, tears, and more prayers than we could ever count. But through all of it, Cruz never stopped being Cruz.. Then came the words we had prayed so desperately to hear: CRUZ IS CANCER FREE. 💛
Today, we're back together. His hair is growing back. He's laughing, playing, making memories with his sister and getting to simply be a kid again. We still travel to New York every three months for scans, and we will never take a clear scan—or an ordinary day together as a family—for granted again. We will take any financial hardship That comes along with it because all that matters is that he’s happy and healthy.
