Held together by love and hope

 

Yeremi picks up the phone just in time to answer the call. 

In the background, the uncontrollable laughter of two children echoes through the garden. Her kids, Jeritza and Yetzael, are chasing each other and tossing pillows as they play. 

“Lower your voices!” she says gently.

Jeritza, the oldest, looks at her, smiles, and throws another pillow at her brother, as if that playful gesture were part of their secret language of love.  

She knows exactly how to win her mother’s attention. “She does it with every smile and every word,” Yeremi said. “Every day she comes up to me, gives me a kiss, and says, ‘Mommy, I love you.’” 

Outgoing, genuine, and incredibly friendly, Jeritza has been a source of inspiration for her family. “She’s taught me to be strong, while I try to lift her spirits on the hard days,” her mom said.  

That bond grew even stronger in April 2024, when Jeritza began experiencing health issues that worried the entire family. In their home country, Dominican Republic, doctors discovered a mass arising from her liver as well as several tumors in her lungs.

Testing confirmed Jeritza had stage four hepatoblastoma, a rare pediatric liver cancer that is usually found in infants and children under age 3. Hepatoblastoma is the most common type of liver cancer in children. Jeritza was diagnosed a few months before celebrating her fourth birthday.  

Yeremi remembers that their doctors gave her only a 50% chance of survival in the Dominican Republic. 

"I was in denial; I didn’t want to face the truth. Then I threw myself into researching, learning everything I could, because I knew we would have to move heaven and earth — do whatever it took — to save my daughter," said Jesús, Jeritza’s father. 

She started chemotherapy near her home, but around 6 months into treatment her tumor was pressing against major blood vessels meaning surgery at that time was not possible. Without surgical removal of the tumor, there was no path to a potential cure. Jeritza’s oncologist referred her to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® in Memphis, Tennessee. At St. Jude, Yeremi found hope that she desperately needed. The care team at St. Jude planned to treat the tumor with radiotherapy in the hopes of shrinking it away from her major blood vessels and allowing a chance for the tumor to be removed.  In those early days, Yeremi remembers her daughter being restless and sad. “But the psychosocial team at St. Jude helped both of us so much. We received a range of services and an extraordinary level of support we never imagined,” she said. 

This mother also felt reassured by the doctors at every step. “They told me they would explore every possible way to save her liver,” Yeremi said.  

“And they did.”

After undergoing a targeted type of radiotherapy called Y 90 and additional chemotherapy, Jeritza was able to have surgery to remove the remaining tumor tissue.  

By August 2025, she had completed treatment and returned home to her younger brother, Yetzael, who had been eagerly waiting for her. 

“He supports her in everything — she’s his favorite person. If we ever have to scold Jeritza, he runs over and hugs her to comfort her,” Yeremi said, touched by the bond between her children, even after being apart during treatment.  

Their extended family has also played a key role in this new chapter. On weekends, they visit grandparents and uncles, and Jeritza enjoys every moment, swimming with her cousins, playing and bouncing around nonstop. “She’s become so energetic — she never stops moving!” her mom said with a laugh.

Every three months, Jeritza undergoes follow-up scans and lab tests in her home country to monitor her health and confirm she remains free of disease.  

“There are no words, just gratitude for St. Jude. They gave me peace, comfort and made me feel at home, with their people, with their doctors. St. Jude is everything,” Yeremi said.

Inseparable friends 

For seven months, Jeritza and her mom stayed at Domino’s Village, one of the housing facilities at St. Jude for patients and their loved ones who are away from home during treatment. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food. 

Once they settled into their temporary home, it didn’t take long for Jeritza to make friends. When asked about her time in Memphis, she excitedly shares stories about the many people she bonded with — nurses, teachers, and the bus drivers who took her to the hospital.  

But one friendship stood out. 

She met another Hispanic patient who was also 4 years old, originally from Ecuador, and the two quickly became inseparable. “They had sleepovers and would pick out matching outfits from the closet. They weren’t just friends — they were sisters, united by the journey they were going through,” Yeremi said.  

They also took classes together at Imagine Academy by Chili’s, the school program at St. Jude that helps patients continue their education while receiving treatment. 

Even though they’re no longer in the same country, the girls stay in touch through video calls. Their moms also became close and often talk for hours. Meanwhile, the girls sometimes just call to say “hi” and “I miss you”— all in under a minute. In one of those calls, Yeremi recalled, her daughter’s friend said: “Jeritza, I cried when you left.” To which Jeritza replied, with her signature innocence: “Don’t worry, I’ll see you tomorrow!”