months early, and was in the hospital for weeks.
Just as baby Michael was about to come home in late August, her son Angel Morales, then 6, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Either medical emergency could have been overwhelming, but Morales-Rodriguez has focused on getting Angel, now 7, the best care.
“I have to be strong for Angel,” she said. “I’m a swimmer, not a sinker.”
She has been honest with him
about his diagnosis, so he would understand when he loses his hair from
chemotherapy treatments, which hasn’t happened yet; and why people might
cry when they hear about his diagnosis.
He’s in remission now after
starting chemo upon his first admission to Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia Aug. 29, but is about to enter a more intense period of
inpatient chemotherapy to stave off a future recurrence. DNA tests have
shown Angel to be at high risk to get the cancer again,
Morales-Rodriguez said.
She also has to keep working, but
her employer AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center allows her to take
time off, such as when Angel goes into CHOP for a week on Dec. 15.
“I can’t lose my job,” she said of her work as a certified medical assistant in cardiology. “I’m the only one with insurance.”
Husband Manuel Rodriguez has a job that does not provide insurance coverage, she said.
For three days in August, Angel
developed fevers that wouldn’t go below 99.9, then told his mom he
couldn’t stand because his bones hurt.
“That’s when I knew something was wrong,” Morales-Rodriguez said. “I knew he needed blood work.”
Residents of Mullica Township,
friends and coworkers at AtlantiCare have helped with expenses related
to traveling to Philadelphia regularly for Angel’s treatment.
The Mullica Township and Egg
Harbor City police departments raised more than $900 for the family
through their No Shave Movember fundraiser, said Mullica Police Chief John Thompson. Twenty-six officers paid $10 a week for the right to skip shaving during November.
The Mullica Township Education Association and Elwood Fire Department have also donated to Angel. Friends like Milly Pagan and Jacqueline Crespo, both of Hammonton; and Carmen Torres, of Mullica Township, helped run a fundraiser in October.
Morales-Rodriguez said her parents, Luz Torres and Edwin Morales,
of Mullica Township, convinced her to keep living with them rather than
move her family into a new home that was ready and waiting. Her parents
help in every way, she said.
To help, donate through gofundme.com/dstul4
or send a check to Capital Bank, 245 Bellevue Ave., Hammonton 08037.
Checks must be made out to "Angel O. Morales" and "Fundraiser" should be
written written in the memo.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/mom-strong-through-kids-prematurity-leukemia/article_60e3fd48-7e4d-11e4-897c-8f6a86579065.html
Related Posts at
http://gadfly01.blogspot.com/2014/12/mtpd-completes-no-shave-november.html
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/mom-strong-through-kids-prematurity-leukemia/article_60e3fd48-7e4d-11e4-897c-8f6a86579065.html
Related Posts at
http://gadfly01.blogspot.com/2014/12/mtpd-completes-no-shave-november.html
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