Stand By Roy

Although I do not know Roy personally, I feel that I know a little bit about him through his mom, Geraldyn. From what I have heard and seen from her Facebook posts, Roy is a very loving and happy 15-year-old. As most teenagers, he leads an active life by playing sports, particularly football. He loves riding his bike with his friends and exploring Milpitas and San Jose. In October of 2017, he started experiencing pain in his right leg but did not think much about it. But as time went on, it started to get worse and the area on his leg was warm and swollen. He was then taken to Stanford for x-rays but did not find anything. He was told that it was Osgood-Schlatter disease. Since Roy participates in sports, it seemed like the most sensible explanation. Then one day while Roy was hanging out and messing around with his friends, one of his friends had karate chopped him in the affected leg where he had been having the pain. The pain was unbearable. Roy was then taken back to the doctor and many tests were done, including an MRI. Come to find out what Roy had been experiencing was not Osgood-Schlatter, but rather osteosarcoma. Had this incident not occur, Roy's situation could have been worse if he broke his leg being that he is an active teen. More tests were done and three nodules were found in his lung. Roy has been going through aggressive chemotherapy treatments at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. Geraldyn has applied for Social Security to help offset some of the medical costs for Roy but was denied. She also applied for Santa Clara  children's devices but was also denied because she has HMO. Geraldyn has to continue working when she can to maintain her health insurance. Roy will continue to need more chemotherapy and later on will possibly undergo amputation of his leg and surgery on his lungs. Geraldyn is the most hardworking person I know. She is a Superwoman and she never fails to amaze. I am sure she must be taking time off from work to care for Roy. For those of you who know Roy and Geraldyn, I ask if you could please help in their time of need. Our children are so precious and to know that such a young soul has to go through this is very tough. I cannot imagine how Geraldyn is feeling but I will continue to pray and keep the positive thoughts going.