Fresno Family Struggles To Help Sick Daughter

By: Kyra Jenkins

The Fresno Police Department held a silent auction and fundraiser to help a little girl battling cancer, on Sunday.

Natalia Valle-Sandoval is the daughter of Fresno Police Officer Edgar Valle-Sandoval. Doctors recently found an inoperable brain tumor in her and said surgery isn't an option because it's too risky. The family hopes chemotherapy will help her and she is scheduled to start treatment next week in the Bay Area.

Six-year-old Natalia just finished radiation treatment last week and now the family said bills are beginning to pile up.

The Valle-Sandoval family will take her to a San Francisco hospital for a 6-month treatment, a plan that will cost thousands of dollars.

"All the donations will go toward the family; medical and travel expenses for the 6-month treatment plan. They will spend five days in the Bay Area and come home on weekends," said family friend Jeannie Foraker.

Officer Sandoval said he's just grateful for all the help people are offering him. Hundreds of people showed up to the fundraiser at the Elbow Room on Figarden, many people he didn't even know wanted to help him and his family.

"There are so many people I am grateful for that if I spent the whole day calling them, I wouldn't get to all of them. I want to thank every one for their thoughts and prayers, anything that has helped us get through this time," said Sandoval.

The officer is on leave, along with his wife, while caring for his daughter over the following months. Family members and friends have set up a bank account at the Central Valley Community Bank for anyone willing to give donations. The account number is #001521993 and checks can be made out to the Central Valley Community Bank, attention ‘Donation for Natalia Valle.'

Friends of the Valle family are planning another fundraiser in the Elbow Room in July.

Special To The BEE

Fresno girl, 6, fights brain tumor

Friends held a $22-a-head benefit Sunday and had raised $3,000 beforehand.

By Jim Guy / The Fresno Bee
05/25/08 21:30:07

Fresno police officer Edgar Valle-Sandoval and his family are facing the crisis of having a child with inoperable brain cancer. But they don't feel as though they are facing it alone.

Sunday, as friends and fellow officers rallied around the family at a benefit at the Elbow Room in Fig Garden Village, Valle-Sandoval wept as he thanked his friends for turning out to a $22-a-head benefit lunch. Before the event began, $3,000 already had been raised.

"I feel like the guy in the Verizon ad who turns around and there are 1,000 people behind him," he said as he fought back tears.

Valle-Sandoval's daughter, Natalia, 6, was diagnosed in early April with a cancerous tumor on her brain stem.

Because of the location of the tumor, surgery is not an option.

So she is undergoing six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco.

That has put a hold on everything in the family's life as both Edgar Valle-Sandoval and his wife, Roni, take time off from work to be with Natalia for the treatment. Monday through Friday, the family stays in San Francisco with Natalia and their other daughter, Sophia, 4. Expenses are adding up, too: the daily parking fee alone is $22.

The family leaves Fresno on Monday morning, and Natalia goes straight into radiation treatment. After an afternoon rest, she then has a chemotherapy session. Valle-Sandoval says it's a very tiring day for his daughter. He and his wife do their best to explain what is going on to Natalia.

"She knows something is wrong and that we are going to the hospital for a reason," he said. "I don't think she gets the magnitude of what it is, however. We try to talk to her as much as possible. The doctors at UCSF have just been incredible in explaining to Natalia what is going on at her level. They've been very considerate to us, and to me, that makes the situation a little bit better."

Family friend Jeannine Foraker said she already has seen some improvement in Natalia's condition and was heartened that so far, the treatments have not made Natalia ill, which can be a side effect.

Valle-Sandoval said it means a lot to the family that they can get back to Fresno after the weekly sessions.

"Every week, we come here to recharge our batteries," he said. "I'm definitely overwhelmed," he said of the support he has received from Fresno.

"I'm very humbled by it. I want to express to everyone our deepest gratitude. Even if I spent a whole day on the phone, I would not be able to get to everyone."

Police officer Pat Dalbec, who knew Valle-Sandoval when he was a manager at the Elbow Room and then became his training officer when Valle-Sandoval joined the department, was not surprised at the support for the family.

"This is a community that cares about little kids," he said. "He's a very good man and it's a great family."

To help:
A bank account has been set up for Natalia Valle-Sandoval at Central Valley Community Bank in Clovis. Donations may be made to account number 001521993 with a notation in the memo area reading ‘‘Donation for Natalia Valle.’’

The reporter may be reached at jguy@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6339

Home for the long weekend

Good morning everyone,
Well, Natalia finished her 1st full week of radiation and chemo. She only got sick once. We think it was because she woke up at 4:30am and did not go back to sleep...we give her her anti-nausea meds at 6:30-7am. It was just to long of a time to be awake without help. We got into a good routine this last week. Go for her 9am treatment, get some breakfast, Natalia takes a nap, wakes up refreshed, eat lunch, go for a walk in the park or do other necessary chores, have dinner, take a walk, shower, take chemo, go to bed. Fridays mean time to come home. We have been leaving by 10:30am, so we get home about 2:30pm with stops for lunch and potty.

News on my front. My regional supervisor called yesterday and offered me the manager's position here at Merit. It was with a heavy heart that I told her no. I believed that all my time a effort should be with Natalia right now even though Edgar would be the one taking her to San Francisco for the next 5 weeks. Since the future was unclear, how could I say yes to the promotion. Then when I got off the phone and told Edgar what had taken place he asked just what I was thinking. Was he not the one who had the time off work to spend with Natalia for treatment, did I not make sacrifices when he was making a career change, could I accept anyone else telling me how to run the property that I had helped build up to what it is today and most importantly, was Natalia's illness going to get any better if we did not keep living and moving forward. The answer to all this was life is for the living and if Natalia was not sick I would have jumped at the chance so why let this disease win in any part of our lives. I called Patrece back and told her I wanted the job.

Tomorrow is the fundraiser event at the Elbow Room. At first we were going to leave going up to Natalia. If she didn't fell like it no go but now the Fresno Bee is coming to do a story and this will be our chance to say THANK YOU to all those people we have either never met or hardly see. To say a personal thank you for everyone's support, not just monetary but all the prayers and kindnesses that have fallen upon us.

Much love to you all,
Roni

Small Steps

Good Evening all,
Sorry it has been a few days. As they say, no news is good news. Radiation and Chemo have been going well so far. We walk up to UCSF and catch the shuttle bus over to Mt Zion for Natalia's radiation. Then we catch the shuttle back and walk back to Family House. Natalia will then take an hour long nap followed by lunch and a walk somewhere. She takes her chemo just before falling asleep by 7:30pm each night. So far she hasn't gotten sick from any of this. Praise to the Lord that this continues. While her symptoms have not gotten any worse we are beginning to see little steps...she now reaches for things and tries to do more with her hands. She is also becoming stubborn again. "No, I'm done." Is her current call of battle.

We attended a family circle support group that Family House organizes every week. It was good to talk specifically about what we are going through and feeling with other parents in the same situation. We were reminded to live in the minute not tomorrow. This is something kids do all the time and adults need to be reminded that happy is right now, not when you get something or finish another. We also cemented in ourselves that while we accept the diagnosis we do not accept the prognosis. The fight will go on no matter how long it takes.

Yes, we are setting up a blog web page with www.caringbridge.org but all this is still to raw and I'm not sure what to say. I'll probably be working on that next week when I can't sleep. I run out of time off for work this next week so back to work I go. I am filling out my paperwork for the Family Leave Medical Act but it is up to each employer whether the employee is to be paid. If nothing else this will allow me 12 weeks additional time should I need it paid or not. It should also protect me from losing my job because of time I need off. Edgar and Natalia will be returning to UCSF without me starting the 26th. I will be home with Sophia keeping the home fires burning.

Note: the picture is of Natalia's radiation treatment room. The lady with short hair is Pat and the other is Carolyn. Pat is awesome and always has a smiling face at the start of our day.

Bye for now...Love to you all,
Roni

First Day

Morning everyone,
Sorry, I didn't write yesterday, but we all hit the physically exhausted wall. Natalia was incredible yesterday. She walked right in got onto the table they put her mask on and locked it to the table. Sophia gave her Patches the Cat AKA Kitty Canoli to hold while it was going on and then she held still for 15 minutes while the machine went all around her. Amazing for a 6 year old. We then went up to the main UCSF campus and got her chemo meds. She took those just before going to sleep last night 8:30. And so far at 5:30am she is still asleep. They also are having her take antinausea meds 2 times a day.

Of course, she is probably still asleep because we had her walk a ton yesterday afternoon. We came back from getting her meds, fed her lunch then made her take a nap. After that, Family House is right next to Golden Gate Park, we walked to the Japanese Gardens, all around them and then through the Botanical Gardens. She prefered the Botanical because there were turtles in the pond. We are trying to get as much good food into as we can, good thing she likes fruit and veg. As well as, keep her as physically fit as possible. We head home today...yeah!

Love to you all,
Roni

Starting Thursday

Hey everyone,
Yes, I said starting Thursday. We got to our appointment this afternoon expecting them to take pics and plot courses and things, then we may have another appointment Thursday to finish things up...but oh no...Treatment starts tomorrow. God truely understands all you can do and takes that into his plan. When the doctors said they were ready to go ahead last week they meant business. Natalia is handling it like the little champ she is. She just goes with them hops on the table and looks at the starlights they have above the machine. Very cool by the way. She can listen to any CD that she wants during the radiation to help her relax and chill. The sessions should last about 15 minutes.

We got her an ipod to help with the waiting room monotony. She was jazzed today to watch Hannah Montana while she had to wait her turn. We got the headphone splitter so there will be no "it's my turn" with the sisters. We feel very positive now that all Natalia wanted to bring on this trip was her sister. Now Sophia can see just a little of what her sister will be going through on a daily basis.

We get to try out the shuttle service tomorrow. We will walk up to UCSF and then catch the shuttle to the Mt Zion campus for Natalia's treatments. This way we get our exercise and we don't have to search for parking. The shuttle service is free and runs every 20 minutes. We have to wait and see if we can get our butts in gear to catch to 8:20 shuttle for our 9am appointment.

Principal Lonzono(I know I messed that up please excuse me I had to deal with sisters in the back of a small car all afternoon) called this morning to say they were in the process of starting "Natalia's Friends" bracelets. Rubber ones like the Lance Armstrong "Be Strong" bracelets. That is way too cool. Just to know she has that much support behind her and now it will be not just in love and hugs but is a visable sign. I'll probably cry everytime I see one.

Note...Mary tell Ann thank you so much we got it Monday and began the prayer that afternoon.

Much love to you all,
Roni

Where we are heading

Good Morning everyone,
Well what a week! I must admit Edgar and I weren't in the best of shape after hearing the words cancer and won't go away. But we are back on track and ready to kick serious butt. We were all eady to leave San Fran on Wednesday afternoon when we got a call to tell us they had an appointment for us with the Radio-Oncologist for Thursday at 12pm. Wow! So much for maybe next week. When we arrived the Tumor Board was just going into their meeting and we had to do all of Natalia's vitals and Dr...Scott...examed Natalia. When the Tumor Board let out within the hour Dr Haas-Kogen...Daphne...said it was the decision of the board to go ahead with treatment rather then wait until early June and that was only if she got a spot on the medical trail. So we did some of the preliminary work for radiation and we will come back next Wednesday to finish the prilim stuff then begin treatment on the 19th. We then went back to Dr Banerjee loaded up with Orange Chicken from Panda Express, Natalia's favorite...Note while waiting for her CT scan Natalia & Sophia kept asking the doctors who would be bringing her lunch as she was very hungury Scott was so taken with their pitiful cries of hunger he found them m&ms and jelly bellies. Anyway back at Dr Banerjee's we got all the blood work done to start chemo and for homone checks becuase the radiation might affect those.

While this type of cancer will not go away it can be treated and contained and that's what we are going to do. They can treat this for many years to come and in the cancer game were new things are discovered all the time that is great news.

Much love to you all,
Roni

Appointment Set

Hey all,
We got a call as we were finishing up the last of the cleaning up here at Family House. We were set to head out when we got the call from Fabienne, Dr Banerjee's nurse practition. We have an appointment tomorrow at noon with the radio-oncologist. So at least we are moving ahead with some stages of treatment. Dr Banerjee will once again be bringing Natalia's case before the Tumor Board so more minds can see and suggest treatment options.

The time for tears is past. The time to get it in gear and start to kick butt is here. Every moment is a wonderful memory and miracles do happen. So chins up everyone, no sad faces.

Love to you all,
Roni

Natalia's Results

Goodmorning everyone,
I'm sorry that most of you had to wait for news but we had to process everything. Natalia's tumor is a stage 3 Anaplystic Astrocytoma. It's cancer. We are in for a long road of treatment and trying new things. But as they say DRs say the worst and expect the best. We do not know much about the treatment phase yet because we were not hearing much yesterday after "it's cancer, and we can't make it go away." The worst means we only have a year or two left with her. The worst means that the tumor will never go away just be held at bay for a time. I've said the worst but I refuse to let go of the best. The best is miracles happen everyday and new treatment methods are out there.
Dr Banerjee would like to speak with Edgar and I without the girls to distract us to go over what steps we need to take for treatment. As I said Edgar and I were not processing much yesterday. Currently we are planning to head back to Fresno today. We want to come back, just us, to speak with her and find out what our next and future steps will be. She would like Natalia to take part in a study with a new chemo drug that has been effective in adults for making the radiation work better. We would need to wait several weeks because there is one course in session right now and we need to wait for that to complete. We know they are getting us an appointment with the radio-onogolgist but they said that probably won't be until next week.
Natalia was pretty tired last night but I know she feels the vibes going on. I know Momma and Papa crying all over her yesterday didn't help. Cara, the social worker here, is going to get us registered with different organizations. But again I wasn't processing much so we need to call her to find out what's up.

Much love to you and please keep praying,
Roni

Biopsy Results

Sorry all,
I just kind of left most of you hanging. We will head back to UCSF on Monday so as not to tire Natalia. We have a meeting with Dr Banerjee on Tuesday at 1pm about what grade of tumor we are dealing with and what we are going to do about it. We all went to Sunday school today and now Natalia is napping. I can not wait to finally start kicking this tumor's ass.

Much love to you all,
Roni