‘You Can Overcome’: Baby Boy Beats Battle With Neuroblastoma In A Miraculous Story

One of the many great joys of starting a family is going through the journey of parenthood—and if there’s anything Smart Parenting knows, we know that everyone’s story is different.

There is no set path to having children and raising them. We are all blessed in different ways, and we are also challenged in different ways. 

Bringing life into this world is one thing, but what actually happens when you find that that life could be lost?

This is exactly what Bryan and Kat Fuentes experienced after finally welcoming their little bundle of joy in January 2022. 

An answered prayer

“When we started trying to have a child, there were a lot of challenges,” Bryan recalls. “Madaming issues ’yung health ko at hirap kami magbuntis,” Kat adds.

But after three years of fervently praying and patiently waiting, the couple received good news when doctors confirmed Kat’s pregnancy. 

“Immanuel Rapha was an answered prayer,” Bryan declares. Rooted in meaning from the bible, the names put together translates to “The God who is with us is our healer.” Immanuel was from Bryan, while Rapha was chosen by Kat. The couple fondly calls him Imman.

When the proud parents took their firstborn home, all was well until it wasn’t. “Little did we know, we’d be battling sickness after sickness the moment he was born,” Kat says.

Imman’s newborn screening results came out, and it was found that he had G6PD—a genetic disorder caused by the lack of the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme in the body. He was jaundiced for an entire month.

'Bakit nangyayari ’to? We waited for him for three years. Kukunin na ba siya sa amin? -Kat, mom of Imman

“Hindi namin alam kung ano’ng nangyayari,” Kat recalls. “Hirap siya mag-feed, lagi siyang nabubusog agad pero ang payat-payat pa rin niya. After turning a month old, may nakapa kami ni Bryan na malaking bukol sa tiyan niya.”

As it turns out, there was a tumor in his stomach. “May 7cm or 8cm na tumor sa tiyan niya. Sobrang laki, sa liit ni Imman. Kaya pala hirap siya mag-feed,” Kat continues.

They quickly consulted doctors, and went through test after test—MRIs, CT scans, lab tests and screenings. 

Only a month old, Imman was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. It’s a rare type of cancer that develops in nerve tissues, usually affecting infants and younger children.

“After hearing the diagnosis from the doctors, as parents to a newborn child, we started questioning: Bakit nangyayari ’to? We waited for him for three years. Kukunin na ba siya sa amin? And it wasn’t easy for us to process everything.”

To Bryan and Kat, hearing the word ‘cancer’ seemed like a death sentence. “For us ni Kat, we saw it as a huge mountain that was impossible to scale. It looked hopeless,” Bryan shares.

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‘They won’t give us hope’

“During that time, durog na durog talaga ’yung heart namin. We prayed for a miracle. We prayed for instant healing,” Kat adds. 

The couple pictured Imman’s overnight recovery, an incredible story that the Internet would be sharing for years to come; but that’s not what they got. It was an uphill battle, indeed.

They were advised by doctors to go through chemotherapy before surgery, as it was very risky to operate on an infant to remove a tumor of that size. “’Pag lumiit na [’yung tumor], that’s the time we take [it] out and continue chemotherapy.”

'Hindi ba pwedeng maging okay nalang ’yung anak ko?' -Kat Fuentes

Kat recalls being told that there are no promises as to the effects of the treatment Imman was undergoing. “They won’t give us hope,” Kat recalls. But they showed up session after session, slowly but surely finding hope on their own and witnessing how their prayers were being answered.

“From the first to the sixth cycle, there were no adverse effects of chemotherapy,” she continues. “Every after chemo [ni Imman], ang sigla niya. After the sixth cycle, from 8cm na tumor, nag-shrink to 2cm.” 
That’s when doctors advised that the tumor can be taken out, but it didn’t end there. They had another hurdle they had to face yet again.

“’Pagtingin nila sa CT scan, nakadikit ’yung organs ni Imman du’n sa tumor,” Kat reveals. The results showed that the mass wouldn’t be easy to take out because it appeared attached to their baby’s kidney and spleen. The doctors prepared them for the possibility of Imman losing one or the other in the surgery.

Bryan and Kat couldn’t help but cry. “Hindi ba pwedeng maging okay nalang ’yung anak ko?” Kat remembers wondering.

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‘There was a miracle’

Thankfully, they were blessed with good news once again. On the day of the surgery, what was supposed to be a four- to five-hour procedure became an hour and a half—another miracle. They were informed that when they opened up Imman’s stomach, the tumor seemed ready to be taken out. 

“Ang bilis,” Kat recalls. “Patulog palang kami ni Bryan, ginigising na kami para sunduin [si Imman] sa recovery room.”

“Parang nagpapatanggal na po yung tumor, mommy,” the doctors told them.

The surgery was successful. Their baby’s quick recovery also followed. “Dapat after a month pa ang recovery niya pero in less than a week, Imman was [already] crawling and jumping. Parang walang nangyari. Healed na ’yung external part ng sugat niya,” Kat shares.

“After that, we still had two cycles of chemotherapy. Last October, he finished chemotherapy. One month after, nagpa-clearance kami just to check kung meron pang tumor. No more cancer, no more tumor in his body.”

Except for losing his hair, Imman remained masigla throughout his treatment. “One month post-chemo, he was already growing back his hair,” Kat shares. This was their miracle.

‘The miracle didn’t end with us’

At this point, Bryan and Kat are just waiting out two more years of monitoring. After overcoming what seemed to be an impossible mountain to climb, they are positive that more blessings will find their family again.

“Two years is a long time to wait for the end of this journey, but that’s also two years of getting to experience the goodness of God day after day after day,” Bryan says.

 

 

“The miracle didn’t end with us. Hindi lang kami ang nagbago at continually binabago. Even our families, it affected how they saw God. When we asked them for prayers, they prayed with us—really believing in His miracles.”

Getting strength from their loved ones, their church community’s, and even strangers’ support, to being able to provide for everything emotionally, mentally, and financially, and finding healing for their little family, the couple can only attest to God’s everyday miracles. 

The couple can only hope that the same healing finds others as they found theirs. Whether or not you believe in miracles, no matter your religion or faith, 

 “Sabi nga ni Bryan, ’yung cancer parang death sentence. To those going through tough times, hindi man siya sickness, pwedeng ibang bagay, parang katulad namin ni Bryan… Kung anuman ’yung death sentence niyo, one thing is for sure: if you’re going through tough times, you can overcome.”