Xavier was born early and after months of struggling with small reactions to immunizations, he had a very rare reaction to the chicken pox vaccine. At that time, he was 13 months old. He fought the virus for 2 months and at his 15 month check up, his parents decided to give him one more shot but again he had a reaction. It was then that his parents knew something was wrong. After some blood work, Xavier was sent to California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco to be seen by an oncologist. That day Xavier’s family lives changed. 3 weeks later, an Immunology team at UCSF saw Xavier and by December, Xavier was undergoing a bone marrow biopsy.

On December 1, Xavier went into the hospital for a stem cell transplant in which his brother is his donor. His brother, Higinio, was hooked up to a stem cell harvest machine that separates the stem cells from the blood; a very painful process. The stem cells were then placed into Xavier. Xavier needs to remain in isolation for 4 months to determine if his little body will accept the cells.

Within the last year, the family has gone through many changes. Xavier’s mom left her job to care for Xavier full-time since he is now unable to be around other children, play at playgrounds or be in enclosed rooms where he is exposed to other children and adults that may be ill. His family moved out of their house and into a shared rental with Grandma to assist with taking care of Xavier. For the next 4 months, Xavier and his mother will live at UCSF to ensure Xavier is not exposed to any viruses. Due to this isolation, the family will be separated during the holidays. The family as exhausted all of their resources for assistance and pray that in 4 months, Xavier will be home with the family and life will move forward.

Carter moved back home with his mother because he needed full-time medical care. His mother is very familiar with the daily appointments of chemotherapy and radiation because she too has cancer and has been dealing with the similiar medical treatments. In fact Carter’s mother, Cherie, was a recipient at Human Connexus Foundation in 2013-14. Now, the two of them are balancing their schedules to make sure they are getting the needed medical care. Both Carter and Cherie are not working due to the multiple appointments throughout the week. Both receive monthly disability but working due to the multiple appointments throughout the week. Both receive monthly disability but that is not enough to cover their basic living needs. Carter is also fighting the hospital and his insurance company regarding a medical bill that is over $600K that is in dispute. An area where he does not want to spend his energy.

Carter is hoping to return to UCSC to finish his bachelor’s degree by next year. He wants to get his college life back and help his family get back on the path to financial stability.

In July 2015, Mikayla went through the first phase of reconstructive surgery on her jaw and her leg. The surgeries were a success but Mikayla had to stay in the hospital for 12 days. She will continue to have weekly appointments at UCSF for the next 2 months.

Back in February, Mikayla’s dad was in an accident at work and is no longer able to perform his job. He is working with the company to receive workman compensation benefits but the process is long and complicated. He just started a retraining program to become a welder. Mikayla’s mother is a medical assistant. She has depleted her family leave and personal time to be with Mikayla. More reconstructive surgeries are scheduled but the family does not have the means to meet all of their basic living needs. Recently, their mortgage was turned over to a collection agency.  It is our hope that with the assistance from Human Connexus and Mikayla’s dad returning to work, the family will save their home that they have lived in for the past 6 years.

 This has not been easy because his personal challenges with Osteosarcoma. Alex was diagnosed in March 2012 at just 15 years old. His cancer is terminal. He has had over 22 surgeries on his leg, lungs and mid-section. He suffered through numerous rounds of aggressive chemotherapy, but the cancer continues to return. In November of last year, he was given two weeks to live with a terminal diagnosis; yet he is still here today.

Alex desperately wants to live. Yet during his battle, he has inspired a community with his recycling and trash cleanup projects in order to “save the planet”. His mom is a single parent since Alex was one-year-old. She continues to hold a job at a dentist office but rarely gets an opportunity to work because she is taking care of Alex. She feels so blessed that the dentist is so compassionate and has not terminated her. However, mortgage payments and bills are high in the bay area, and Alex constantly worries about how his mom will keep up; both now and when he is gone. Alex hopes that some assistance will help alleviate some of the burden on his mom so they can spend time together chasing rainbows and dreams in the time he has left.

 In May 2015, Jesse was admitted to the hospital with a virus, which was difficult to cure because Jesse’s immune system is compromised. He received IV medications twice daily but the virus stayed in his system for 2 1/2 weeks. Then in June, he contracted another virus that took multiple medications to eliminate the virus from his system. This time his hospital stay extended over 2 months. Jesse’s mom receives In-Home Support Services, which is financial assistance program funded by the State of California Social Services to pay for full-time care for a disabled individual rather than relying on out-of-home care where nurses come to your home. While Jesse was in the hospital, the In-Home Support Services does not pay Jesse’s moo she did not receive any financial support for the past over 8 weeks. During this time, she was using her car extensively to travel back and forth from UCSF hospital to her home in Oakland. Her car needed some repairs to make the daily trips. The unexpected elimination of 2 months of pay and the car repairs caused the family to fall short on paying for their monthly basic living needs. Human Connexus Foundations is helping the family pay for their rent for the next few months so they can catch up on their bills.

When Alejandro was in 4th grade, he was attending school but his behavior became disrupted in the classroom. He had difficulty concentrating, mood changes become more frequent and he was confused; common issues from a child with high levels of ammonia in the brain. Since it takes so long for the levels to dissipate, the school recommended that Alejandro be home schooled where a tutor comes to the house every day to help him with his studies. He has been home schooled ever since. He misses his friends dearly and is hoping to return soon. Alejandro’s mother is an Accounting Manager at a family owned IT small company. The company owners understand Alejandro’s medical situation but since she is an hourly employee, every time Alejandro has a doctor appointment, she needs to take time off work. This has caused a burden on their financial situation.

 In May 2014, the doctors started to give up hope on Zachary since the medical team was not able to isolate the cause of the seizures and the medications were not working. Zachary’s father saw a Discovery Channel Special on CBD oil (a cannabis extract) that had helped other pediatric patients with seizures. Right around that time, Zachary’s just experienced a Grand Mal seizure where Zachary lost consciousness and had violent muscle contractions. He was rushed to the ER and the Neurologist informed them that this was going to become a normal occurrence. Zachary’s parents were very skeptical of using cannabis to help their son plus it is very expensive but they had no other option. With the help of their Pediatric Neurologist, they started Zachary on a CBD oil treatment. Progress was slow but finally on Oct 10th, Zachary had NO SEIZURES. Zachary went for 54 days without a seizure. Occasionally, he will have a seizure now but they are not as violent as before. Zachary continues to show improvement in his brain waves, motor skills and development skills. The parents have been pulled and stretched in so many directions; emotionally, financially and spiritually. They can look back and appreciate the little victories, the milestones and are looking to the future with excitement.

 At 3-years old, Jasmine kidneys stopped working. Since then, Jasmine has received dialysis treatments three times weekly. She has been on the kidney transplant waitlist for the past 850 days. She periodically has macrocytic anemia (enlarged red blood cells) and thrombocytopenia (decrease levels of platelets) requiring blood transfusions. Jasmine also receives physical therapy twice weekly. Jasmine and her mother are seen at Lucile Packard Hospital every day of the week.

Jasmine lives in a very small two-bedroom apartment with her mother and 3 siblings. Her mother used to work as an auditor at a local hotel. Jasmine’s mother quit her job and receives In-House Assistance Funds since she is Jasmine’s full-time caretaker. However, these funds are not enough funds to cover all the expenses in the household. For the past year, Jasmine’s siblings have not been to a movie, out to eat (even fast food) or enjoyed any activity that costs extra money. These items are just NOT in the budget. They struggle each month to keep up but her mother always finds ways to make ends meet.

In the meantime, she had no source of income. She was delinquent by several months on her rent and other bills. Her landlord was threatening to evict her and her kids from the apartment that they have been living in for the past 5 years. She started to forgo purchasing groceries so she could contribute a little bit each month to her landlord. In September of 2014, Allison found a temporary position. She is still behind on her rent but is trying to pay it off. Because her position is only temporary, she does not qualify for medical insurance through the company. Medical payments for her and her kids is estimated to be $900 per month according to the Affordable Care Act Plan; money that she currently doesn’t have. Allison is praying that her position will convert to full-time status so she will get an increase in pay but more importantly, have affordable health care benefits. In the meantime, Human Connexus is helping Allison with her rent to ensure she is not left homeless while she gets through this rough patch in her life.