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RYAN FERNANDEZ

27 years old Stcge 2 Hodgkins Lymphomc survivor

since Februory 2OO7

After graduating from Fordham (JniversiQ in New York City, I stryed to work there for almost a year I began to have breathing problems qfter several months. / also began coughing up blood. Ir{ot knowing it was cancer I then decided to take a vacation and go home to Manila. My parents were shocked by how pale I had become!
Some days later I felt a lump at the base of my neck over my collarbone. Medical tests

and a biopsy were quickly done, and I was diagnosed to have Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Four years after I finished

my treatment, my father was diagnosed with Ad-

cnrcinoma, b as ic ally a type of lung cnncer -fo,

eno

non-smokers. Some months before the diagnosis, he had complained about pain in his

pelvis.

We

thought it could

have been a pulled muscle or he injured himself while at the g))m. Finally, when the pain was unbearable for him, we became very worried. ksts were done, and the pain was discovered to be caused by cancer activiQ in the bone. Most shocking of all was that those cancer cells had originated from a

Ryon (center) with porents, Ernie ond Olive Fernondez my health, but because I had to resign -fro* work, give up my apartment, and leave my lfe in I{ew York behind. What was supposed to be a v ac ation b ecame permanent. What would my friends in the LIS and Fhilippines saY?

larger group in his lungs. As a young person, cancer was the last thing on m))
mind.

How was I to live a normal lifn? Chemotherapy scared me and I was anxious about
the future. My morn became depressed, and she couldnT focus on work nnymore. W dad was somewhat more stable. Friends and family were

shocked, but after the initial grieving, I became resolute about getting through this.
When we found out my father had cancer too, our world almost collapsed a

I was stunned
just

when

I
of

found out, and cried. I was

depressed not because

second time. We're a small

30

The Corewell Mqgozin e 20.l2 lssue

ERNIE FERNANDEZ

62 yeors old Stcge 4 Adenoccrcinomo of the lungs survivor since

July 20"l I

our

I. In my cancer journe)), my
parents were always there to make sure everything went smoothly - "from s cheduling medical tests, talking with doctors, buying DVDs, and preparing my food. All I had to worry about was keeping afloat ! What we learned

family -

my

parents and

.fro* my treatment - things

like what a healthy lifesele is, which doctors to go to, where to seek alternative treatment - we readily applied to my father's case when it was his turn. We
didn't feel helpless the second time around. My mother had studied so many boioks on cqncer that at times we felt she knew more than some oncologists !
We've come to understand that cancer isn't an automatic death sentence. At least it wasn'tfor me and
my

father Though

he s still

continuing his treatment,

he s responding well to his

medication, and we are constantly amazed by how he's

responding. I "fo, one didn 7 think much of my own case back then, but now I know in some ways my getting cancer first helped, because now I can take care of my father. Along with my mother we've become closer and more
courageoLts as a family. You

Ernie (center) flonked by his wife, Olive, ond son, Ryon Fernondez

family

(I'* an only child), and two out of three incidents of cancer could have easily devastated us. My mother was affected the most; now she had to take care of nuo patients at home. Still, because of what we

went through as a family the first time around we quickly bounced back and chose to take an optimistic attitude.

Our experience from 'round

one' plus the tremendous

persevere. For his part, my father took qll things in good faith. He knew that because of what happened to me, we could beat cnncer a second
time.

amount of prayers for my father gave us the strength to

There are only three o.f us in

can live without food or water for some time, but not hope, not for a second.

The Cqrewell

Mogozine

2012lssue

3r