Jacob Torres is a loving, animated boy, who his mom Jessica describes as beating to the sound of his own drum. He loves sports, he loves to be independent, and he loves to be with his older brother.
He was generally a healthy child, but had been getting fevers. The assumption was it was just viral. But at his two-year-old checkup, his pediatrician pulled his hemoglobin level, which came back low. Thankfully, his doctor was thorough and ran the test again to be sure, and it turned out to be the true number. Jacob was sent for bloodwork and to see a hematologist. It was then that they got the devastating news that Jacob had leukemia.
Jacob’s story is heartbreaking enough on its own, but it shows the toll a diagnosis can take on the whole family. He had to start a very intensive treatment schedule that would last about 15 months. He started cycles of treatment that would see him at the hospital anywhere from once a week to four times a week. He was sensitive to the chemotherapy, so there were many additional visits due to the side effects. This all continued while the family also tried to also raise Jacob’s older brother, making sure he was where he needed to be and cared for in the way a six-year-old needs to be.
Jessica had just started a new teaching job and thus had very limited paid leave time, so she ended up having to take two months off of work, most of it unpaid. The financial strain of losing one income was a lot. Her husband’s job was a bit more flexible in terms of his schedule, but he also had to take a lot of unplanned time off. On top of a reduced income, the family had to meet a $6,000 deductible before any coverage kicked in and treatment was covered by insurance, a deductible that reset once the calendar turned back to January. Some bills had to go to collection, which the family accepted as inevitable because the priority was to keep giving Jacob what he needed, eventually getting on a payment plan later.
It was the social work office at the hospital that told the family about the Joe Andruzzi Foundation. JAF was able to provide gift cards for groceries, which was a huge help to the family and helped in practical ways.
“It helped make sure that we had meals to even bring to the hospital, snacks for Jacob. Snacks for my husband and me, so we had something to eat because the hospital doesn’t always give food to the parents.” Jessica said. “Making sure that my other son had lunches to go to school and have the things that he needed. We were constantly trying to get something on the go, so those gift cards came in handy when it was time to grocery shop.”
And on the go they were, driving back and forth to the hospital, making sure their older son was where he needed to be. Every week was a whirlwind. And the speed of the help from JAF was appreciated by the family.
“It was getting the help with not so many questions… It was easy to apply for with a quick response.”
Jacob is in preschool now, and doing as well as he can. But there’s an added layer to everything that is a new normal. Being immunocompromised and going to preschool, Jessica cites the example of an average cold can’t be treated as just an average cold for Jacob. It’s a toll beyond treatment that comes with a cancer diagnosis that affects the whole family.
“We spent a lot of time separated. So the time that we get to have together, I feel like we value that a lot more because we never know what the week’s going to look like. We could never plan anything because we just never know if Jacob’s going to be okay enough to be able to attend something. And I don’t think people realize that. Just going out to the store sometimes could be a little dangerous depending on what he can catch. It’s the little things that really we take for granted. That families like us, we don’t have that luxury anymore.”
