Amounts of Love for Love

Amounts of Love for Love

My name is Ma. Claire Rodriguez, and I am here to share the story of my 8 year old nephew Reagan Love “Yabyab” Sapungan – a brave little boy fighting an illness that no child should have to fight.

Born in 2014, Reagan Love (or Yabyab for close relatives) has brought light to our family. His coming of age has brought lots of priceless moments, with him being such a compassionate boy that comforts anyone he thinks is in distress. Every time he sees his mother Mariz worried, he never fails to go over to her to touch her face and say “it’s okay, Mommy”.

Year 2017, Yab was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). He was 2 years and 7 months old; since then he has been enrolled to multiple schools and therapy sessions in which he excels in. Yab shows intelligence, being a consistent performer in his class and gearing up to join the mainstream program for primary grader this coming year.

However, late last year, we noticed that he had developed symptoms of throwing up after every meal, constipation, and imbalance:

• After almost a year of gastrointestinal treatment, the real cause of his symptoms finally came to light. On June 15, 2023, it was found that he has medulloblastoma. There was a 4 cm tumor found on his brain. You can only imagine how devastating this was, finally knowing what has been bothering him all along. His admission to the hospital was considered an emergency.

• Due to him being diagnosed with ASD, it was not easy for him to show much of the pain. We were not aware that he was having severe headache episodes. Most times he would say “ouchy ouchy”, point to his head, and have a laughing fit. Being a child in the spectrum meant that expression was a struggle.

June 18, 2023, 3 days after his diagnosis, he underwent surgery to remove his tumor. For gravely 9 hours we waited, it was the longest day of our lives. Unfortunately, there was still about 1.5 cm of mass left. The doctors were honest in saying that it was not all removed, at the time it was Yab’s well-being that was put first. They did not want to lose my nephew to bleeding, and so it was stopped.

Currently he resides in an Intensive Care Unit and is still under sedation. At this moment, the only consolation we have is the fact that he is responsive to our voices and interacts with us by doing his favorite antics when asked (smiling, pouting his lips, half-opening his eyes). On his 4th day in the ICU (21/06), he was assessed whether he would require a VP shunt for his hydrocephalus. After some time of observation, we were advised that he would need it so a 2nd operation is necessary. As of June 26, the result of his biopsy came out and it was confirmed that his tumor is malignant; meaning after recovery, Yab would need chemotherapy. His second operation was performed on the evening of June 26th.

It is heartbreaking to witness my sister relive this moment, as 20 years ago she was placed in the same predicament when fighting Leukemia. She is a cancer survivor that defied all odds, as she continues doing so every single day now. My brother-in-law, Reagan, also had a total knee replacement surgery (both knees) last March 2022 and has been trying his best to recover and provide for his family. He also suffers a chronic kidney disease (HLA-B27) that requires a lifetime of treatment. To say the least, they have been through so much. Now seeing their child in a hospital bed only makes it harder.

As a parent, more so as a mother, we all know it isn’t easy to see your child stay with you yet carry such suffering. I know there are days when my sister asks herself whether it is fair to keep him fighting or if it is easier to just let him rest… to let the pain only be the hurt of loss and grief carried by her. I might not be able to have an exact answer to that, but I only know one way at the moment: to fight.

Here we fight for Yab, whatever it takes and for as long as it is needed. Him being diagnosed with ASD has already taken much of his childhood away from him, but it is something we cannot control. Our only wish right now is to not lose him over this as well. I believe that my sister’s son, my nephew – a beloved kid to all – deserves to have a chance to live in his youth.

With all of these in mind, I am humbly requesting financial assistance for my nephew and his family. It would be a big help to assure his mom Mariz that everything will work out just fine. I want to be able to witness Yab go up to his mother’s face and tell her that “it’s okay”. I long for the day that we will all be lit up by his smile once more.

The Sapungan family has accumulated a bill of about 1 million pesos as of today and can imagine that it will accumulate over time during my nephew’s stay in the hospital. The family and relatives had pooled in for the expenses and always been in the hospital for all sorts of support for my Sister and her family.

We thank all your big and kind hearts in advance for any amount that you can share to my nephew Reagan Love Sapungan’s medical treatment.

Here’s to a cause worth fighting, for Love, and to living for the hope that it will all be alright. The faith and the fight continues, always in all ways.