During the fall of 2017, Tina became nauseous and started to throw up almost daily.
Her parents, Vicente and Marina, took her to the pediatrician, who determined that Tina had a virus.
Tina prior to treatment
But 10 days later, Tina was still sick.
“We went to the hospital,” Vicente said. “Within 40 minutes, they told us Tina had a brain tumor.”
A biopsy revealed the tumor was a type of brain cancer called medulloblastoma.
Tina was then referred to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Families, like Tina's, never receive a bill from St. Jude for anything.
Tina with her family in 2018
“When we learned Tina had cancer, it was the worst news we’ve ever received,” Vicente said. “You never think something like this could happen to you.”
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Tina’s family arrived at St. Jude in January 2018.
Her treatment included 30 sessions of proton therapy and four months of chemotherapy.
Her family is thankful for the care she’s received – and how much St. Jude provided for their family.
Tina on the St. Jude campus
St. Jude took the financial worry away. St. Jude allows families like ours to have our child treated with the best team behind us.
Tina with her dad, Vicente
Tina is now finished with treatment and returns for regular scans.
She is an honor student who loves to play tennis and spend time watching videos or playing cards with her sister.
Tina in 2019
St. Jude kept our family together ... it's a little piece of heaven on earth.
Meet more patients
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Meet Imani
Imani was diagnosed with cancer at 5 weeks old. Her family feared the worst. But at St. Jude, there was hope for her future.
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Meet Leah
Leah is a big sister who loves dresses, shopping, singing and helping in the kitchen. In March 2019, she was referred to St. Jude for acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment, which included a transplant with her mother as her donor.
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Meet Elliott
Elliott is social and loves the outdoors. He also loves St. Jude, where he's being treated for leukemia.
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Meet Dahiralis
Dahiralis is a very active little girl who loves to play, jump and run everywhere. At 3 years of age, she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancerous tumor, and was referred to St. Jude where doctors provided her much-needed treatment and care.
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Meet Melanie
When Melanie was diagnosed with brain cancer and referred to St. Jude, she wasn’t nervous. She was actually looking forward to treatment — chemotherapy, proton therapy and visits from St. Jude therapy dog Huckleberry — because to Melanie, St. Jude meant getting well again.
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Meet Harmony
Harmony is artistic, detailed-oriented and loves to debate. When she noticed something was wrong on her walks to class, no one expected the cause to be a stage four Wilms tumor.
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Meet Marina
Marina is a joyful 2-year-old who loves to laugh and dance with her siblings. She was referred to St. Jude after a white glimmer in her pupil led to her being diagnosed with retinoblastoma, an eye cancer.
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Meet Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn first came to St. Jude at just over a year old when she was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue cancer. Despite all she’s been through, her smile shines bright.
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Meet Mia
Mia is a friendly, caring child who was referred to St. Jude from her home country of Nicaragua when she was 5 years old. She was diagnosed with anaplastic ependymoma, a malignant tumor in her brain.
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Meet Luis
Like many boys his age, Luis wanted to be a soccer player when he grew up. But then he was diagnosed with cancer. Now he wants to help kids like him.
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Meet Brinley
In 2015, Brinley was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She was cancer free for more than two years when, in 2019, her family learned the cancer had returned.
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Meet Abraham
After a CT scan revealed Abraham had a mass on his brain, identified as a cancerous brain tumor called a medulloblastoma, his family turned to St. Jude for help.
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How St. Jude patients spent their time during quarantine
While difficult at times, quarantining during COVID-19 has allowed St. Jude patients and their families, while respecting social distance, to let their creativity flourish in ways that has brought them closer together. See how some of our patients spent their time during quarantine.
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Meet Eleanor
Eleanor is a determined baby who arrived at St. Jude on her first birthday. She was diagnosed with down syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer.
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Meet Fletcher
Fletcher is a 12-year-old boy and a huge Cleveland Browns fan. So it was a dream come true when he announced the team's pick in the NFL draft on April 23.