Nestor Grullon

Pat Kelly

Piotr Kolodziej

Letitia Mingledolph

Gloria Rucobo

Raquel Rohlfing

PJ Schmidt

Carla Tardif

Of Pride and Perseverance: A Family and Mom Struggle for Peace

Letitia Mingledolph's son Joshua was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer, on May 21, 2007. At the time, he was 3 1/2 years old, the younger brother of a 9 year old boy, a 6 year old boy, and older brother to a 1 year old boy.

When Letitia found out the diagnosis, she was absolutely devastated, and didn't sleep for an entire week. Cancer, to her, was a word that she knew — a horrible disease that affects others, but never anyone that was close to her heart, especially not her child.

Joshua began treatment at one hospital, but Letitia wasn't satisfied with the care that he was being given. Furthermore, she was confused about the diagnosis and no one seemed to be able to provide any answers. She made the decision to switch to Robert Wood-Johnson, which was a "blessing in disguise."

At Robert Wood-Johnson, the doctors and nurses were able to clarify exactly what was going on with her son, and explain the different treatment options available. Despite finally coming to terms with the situation, Letitia was still extremely depressed and having a very difficult time coping.

Work was a struggle. As a social worker, Letitia's job was to help others — yet she spent nearly everyday sitting at her desk crying, wondering who was going to help her and her family through this ordeal.

It got so bad that she made the decision to leave work. This freed her up to accompany Joshua to his many clinic and doctors appointments, and focus her attention on helping him heal. However, this also put a huge strain on the family financially. Her husband struggled to provide for his wife and 4 kids and they were soon in danger of having their house foreclosed because they could not afford the mortgage.

"When I was young, and things went wrong, I always wondered 'What am I going to tell my parents?' Now that I'm grown and have my own family, I wondered 'What am I going to tell my kids?' How can I look at them, and explain to them what is going on? When you don't have the means to make ends meet, it is a horrible feeling."

When she told her other kids what was happening with Joshua, they took it very hard. They became jealous of the attention that Joshua was receiving, and the fact that their mommy was always out with just Joshua. They began to seek her attention in other ways — by acting out in school and with their peers. Her one son even turned to her and said, "Mommy, I wish I was sick."

One day, Letitia was sitting in a rocking chair in the clinic, rocking a crying Joshua back and forth while speaking with a social worker named Randy from the Embrace For Kids program. For the first time, Letitia opened up about her family's struggles. "We need help," she said to Randy.

Enter Family Reach Foundation. Through Embrace For Kids, Family Reach heard about Letitia's story and her struggles to care for Joshua while raising 3 other boys and relying solely on her husbands salary. They stepped in and began paying the Mingledolph's mortgage — saving their house from being foreclosed.

"Words cannot express how much we appreciate what Family Reach Foundation did to help our family, and how truly thankful we are. We are so thankful that someone out there was willing to help. We were able to stay in our home throughout this ordeal, which was truly a blessing. We are still in our home to this day... I was worn out physically and emotionally, but if we would have lost our house, I can't even imagine where we would be today."

It has now been 1 year and 2 months since Joshua was diagnosed. He is no longer receiving treatments, and is slowly getting back to simply being a kid again.

"We still have a ways to go — for instance, at 4 1/2 years old, he is on a 2 1/2 year old level. He throws tantrums, and we're beginning to have to pull the reigns back and explain to him that he's a big boy and we can no longer baby him. However, if we could get through cancer, we can definitely get through these little things. I believe everything happens for a reason — while I don't know exactly why we went through this struggle, I do hope that others out there will hear this story and know that you can get through it."

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