Donna family living in fear of relapse for 5-year-old leukemia survivor

2 weeks ago 61

Jose Manuel Davila III stands so tall amongst the rest of his kindergarten class at Dr. R.E. Margo Elementary with his rosy cheeks and bushy hair that one wouldn’t assume he had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2022.

Jose was only 3-years-old when the world came to a screeching halt for his family, especially his mother, 34-year-old Jenny Davila.

One day Jose, who is typically full of energy, was playing when he told his mom that he wanted to lay down.

“That was not him,” Jenny said. “That was not normal.”

She drove Jose to her mother-in-law’s because she was heading to the convenience store where she worked as a cashier, but decided to call in that day as Jose looked pale.

Jenny then took him to a children’s hospital in Edinburg where he was initially told it was constipation, but Jose’s mother noticed something was still off.

“Out of the hundred sparkles that he has, I see the two missing,” Jenny explained.

A few days later, Jenny took Jose to the pediatrician which is when things took a turn for the worse. The pediatrician told her that she needs to take her son to the hospital immediately.

Once there, doctors walked in and out of the room Jenny and her son were in without any explanation. She recalled hearing scary terms and phrases spoken by the medical personnel, but wasn’t getting any answers.

The two spent the night at the hospital and the following morning, the news was broken to them: Jose has leukemia.

“At that moment, I hear leukemia and I’m like that’s it,” Jenny said breaking into tears. “I grew up thinking cancer and leukemia [has] no cure.”

The family’s lives changed. Jenny had to quit her job to take care of her youngest son who was now undergoing treatment and had to frequent the hospital.

The doctors would tell Jenny that she needed to explain to her 3-year-old that the treatment was for his own good, but Jenny as a mother didn’t know how to tell her own child not to be scared of the needles.

“He would see it and he would scream ‘no, no, no, mom, please, mommy, help me, help me,’” Jenny said.

She recalled her son losing his hair and, due to his cancer, his immune system weakened meaning any sort of other illnesses could be a major threat.

And though Jose did contract other viruses like COVID-19 and the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, he managed to pull through.

“He wanted to live,” Jenny said. “He fought … and he’s a very happy kid so that helped him too.”

Even through all his treatment, Jose was still just a kid who wanted to play. Jenny explained that if people were to see him during his first year of chemotherapy, they wouldn’t have the slightest idea that he was sick.

“When the treatment escalated, we were living a new normal,” Jenny said. “But it’s never the same and it’s never going to be the same anymore because you’re always scared.”

Jose’s sister and brother, 17-year-old Monique Cardenas and 15-year-old Rafael Cardenas, also help out when needed. Jenny said that she was initially afraid to tell them about Jose’s diagnoses, but they eventually came to realize the situation.

The two still worry when Jose feels feverish.

Jenny added that Jose currently has to have blood work done every month and eventually he’ll have to go every six months then every year, although for the rest of his life.

Jose, who’s now 5-years-old, also has to live with the trauma of cancer treatments as a toddler. Jenny explained that he sometimes throws tantrums and she fears that her allowing the doctors to stick him with needles might have built some resentment.

“I’m pretty sure it all comes back to him because when he would tell me ‘mom, help me,’ what I had to do I had to grab him,” Jenny said in tears. “So, all the time I think, ‘what was he thinking? Why is my mom doing this?’ You know, he’s not going to understand until he’s probably older.”

The Davila family live in a trailer home in Donna which was in the process of being fixed up before the pandemic hit in 2020. They moved their home onto that piece of land in 2018.

Jose’s dad, Jose Davila Jr., the sole breadwinner of the family, recently left to Tyler, Texas, to work a new job in scaffolding.

Though the home could use some fixing, all Jenny wishes is for Jose’s full recovery.

“We just need him to be OK,” Jenny said with a tremble in her voice.

Jose is currently in remission, but Jenny says that Jose can’t be declared cancer-free yet.

The 5-year-old rang the bell signifying the end of his cancer treatment in August, but the chance of the cancer coming back is still there.

It won’t be until he’s 10-years-old that Jose will learn whether or not he’s cancer-free.

“I think the thought of a relapse is even worse than the thought of the diagnosis,” Jenny said, adding that she doesn’t think they could go through that experience again.

The United Way of South Texas is collecting contributions for the family, which will receive 100% of all donations. You can help them by calling the United Way of South Texas at (956) 686-6331 and ask about the Spirit of Christmas campaign.

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