Help Matthew Fight His War with Cancer

Hello, my name is Melissa Gastelum. I am a single mother of two. Matthew Cruz,4, Miabella Cruz,3. When I was pregnant with my daughter, in 2019, I had to give birth at 30 weeks which my daughter was at 4 pounds at the time. I was diagnosed with placenta accreta I was bleeding internally in my uterus. Therefore, it was causing my kidneys to fail all while I was pregnant with my daughter. I had to do dialysis by myself for hours. I signed the last five wishes booklet that the hospital gives you when they tell you that you will possibly pass away. With all that being said, they also informed me that I will not be able to have children anymore and I do not have a choice. Also, while all of this information was being said to me, I also learned that it’s a possibility that my daughter won’t make it. When i gave birth to my daughter, i hemorrhaged.Thank God both me and my daughter were saved and came out alive.This situation landed my daughter in the NICU for many months in 2019. She was not eating by herself so they had to keep her in the hospital for months and months. But finally the day came where we’ve came to an agreement to place a G-tube on my daughter so we can bring her home.  After my situation with my daughter, I honestly thought that I would never have any similar situations that requires any emergency hospital visits. But….On June 3, 2022  my son was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). He was 3 years old when he was diagnosed. He does his treatments in Miller’s Children Women & Children Hospital in Long Beach, CA. For over a year I have been trying to do everything for my kids myself without any help from anybody. I quit my social life. I quit my love life and I quit my job so I can become a full-time caregiver for my son at home. I have learned how to give chemotherapy at home. My son has doctor appointments almost every day of the month sometimes for almost 2 weeks straight every single day we have appointments to attend to. He has multiple procedures done as well. We live about 25 to 30 minutes from the hospital and I have to make the drive all the time. I don’t mind it at all because I will do anything for my kids.  For a year I have been contemplating to do this page because I have a lot of pride. But I have now noticed that I am not doing okay anymore.I am not sleeping or eating anymore. I am struggling so much to keep up with all the expenses. I can’t work because I don’t feel comfortable in leaving my son when he most needs me. And if I do find work, I feel like I am a bad mom for not being there for him. 24 hours. For those that know me very well, know that this is very difficult for me to do in general. Matthew was only 3 when he was diagnosed, he has came out of 2 comas in less than a year. He will turn 5 on July 11, and i can’t celebrate him the way he deserves. Matthew has done a full year of chemotherapy and is on going. For those who have kept up with his story on my social media know what he has endured with this sickness. For many months he has been admitted to the hospital and have to stay there for weeks or months. I basically have to “move” to the hospital multiple times and its very mentally challenging for both my son, my daughter and I. As a mother, hearing my son has cancer was THE MOST HEARTBREAKING THING I EVER HAD TO HEAR! This pain, i really don’t want another mother to feel. We are scared. I have a fear i cant get away from. The only way to make change is to be the change. Together we can create awareness for pediatric cancer. Together we can help Matthew live a normal life. Always remember families with children diagnosed with cancer will forever worry at every sniffle, fever or sign of exhaustion. I’m scared. I have never been scared of anything in my life. The life of my children are PRICELESS. I also want you guys to know that not only do I want to raise money for my family, but I also want to include other families that I know from our cancer unit because they need the support. I have seen and met many families throughout the year in our cancer unit and I cannot appreciate the fact that they forget about themselves and I want them to know that while they’re forgetting about themselves a goodie bag that we can make for them will bring out some type of light in their darkest tunnel. I want our family to support other cancer families as well. We can do it. I know that when I was in my darkest tunnel in the hospital with my son, there were some foundations some donations from other families.They shed some light in my tunnel and I also want to take a part of that. Thank you everyone who has been a part of Matthews journey, as well as my journey as a mother. I truly appreciate everybody that has been sending messages and their prayers. It’s immensely appreciated. You are all amazing bless your heart let’s keep praying for Matthew, and we love you guys!