#EavenStrong

Through our son’s love of the sport, my husband has been coaching Youth Football for the past four years. Throughout his journey, he has had the honor of working with so many wonderful, talented group of boys and as his wife, I have watched from the sidelines as he poured every ounce of his energy and time to teach his players everything he knew about football. He learned that working with young children meant that he had to coach them differently. He learned that what may seem as simple instructions to high school athletes is quite the opposite for a 8, 9, 10, 11, and even 12 year olds to process. Nonetheless, it’s without saying that those boys in turn, have all taught him to love what he does. The downside to coaching any sports is that as our players age with each passing year, they will eventually move on to much bigger things. Some of them are now old enough to play for their prospective schools while some have been drafted out to play for other teams or for other divisions within the league. And then there are those who have remained with us, some as long as three years. Naturally, it would be a lie if we said that we haven’t grown attached to these boys and I think every coach can say the same. As parents ourselves, there wouldn’t be anything we wouldn’t do if any one of them needed our help and so here we are, asking for everyone’s help.

There’s this boy Eaven, he is our three year veteran and the Captain of our football team. Extremely intelligent, strong-willed, full of life, and the most loyal twelve year old you will ever meet. Who was once a perfectly healthy child, one day, his health took a drastic turn for the worst. At 10pm on November 19th, Eaven was admitted to the emergency room as he was having difficulty breathing. After an x-ray detected a large mass surrounding his heart, he was immediately flown to Corpus Christi for further observation. Once there, he endured back to back labs, CT scans, echo sonograms, heart monitors, and countless other procedures. By November 20th, he could no longer lay flat on his back to rest as doing so prevented him from being able to breathe. On November 22nd, Eaven underwent multiple surgeries and procedures under only local anesthesia due to the severity of his health preventing him from being sedated as these procedures are normally performed. The results from the biopsy confirmed what the doctors had already suspected: he was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma, Stage Three. Eaven has an aggressive tumor in the lymph node areas on both sides of the diaphragm/heart. He was administered his first dose of chemo, along with steroids to target the tumor. On November 23rd, he remained in PICU. An x-ray revealed the fluid surrounding his heart had increased, prompting a chest tube be inserted to try to drain the fluid.

As of November 27th, he still remains in the hospital. After his release hopefully soon, he has been ordered to stay in the Corpus Christi area near the vicinity of the hospital for the first 1-3 months due to the severity of his condition. These first few months of treatments will be crucial in targeting the tumor. Eaven’s mother, Jassel, has not left his side during this entire ordeal. She is the definition of a great mother and it shows in every single one of her children. Aside from Eaven, she has four other children between the ages of 3-13 who currently remain in the care of her parents so she can tend to Eaven. I am asking for your help because many of us would feel helpless in a situation of this nature. Please help Jassel handle this obstacle with a little ease as this is just the beginning of her long, difficult journey. Once Eaven has been cleared by his physician to return home, Eaven and his mother will still need to travel to Corpus Christi weekly for the next several years for treatment. Your contribution will help with costs associated with medical, lodging, transportation expenses, food and supplies that Eaven may need. Thank You.