Reno Dominguez, 13
Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Reno Dominguez loves sports. Nothing, not
even cancer, was going to prevent him from being part of the action.
As a ball boy for his step-father’s
football team, he would spend half-time on one side of the locker
room getting his shot, while the team was on the other side
reviewing plays. Reno’s courage was inspiring and humbling to the
players.
That same courage is what has helped him
endure treatments for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic
system that comprises the body’s ability to fight infection.
Reno’s cancer is now in remission.
Reno was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
after a rough-playing incident. Shortly thereafter he began
complaining of a sore neck and that’s when the family noticed a
lump. The cancer was found in his neck, abdomen and under arm area.
He began treatment immediately.
Strength does not adequately describe the
way the 13-year-old has dealt with his illness. After he started
losing his hair, including his eyelashes and eyebrows, his mother,
Lydia, asked if he wanted to be homeschooled — but he refused. “He
said he was willing to deal with it,” she said.
Randy Dennis said he often awed at his
step-son’s maturity. “The attitude Reno had during his illness
contributed significantly to his success in becoming cancer free. I
remember a time when Reno looked at me and said that everything was
going to be okay. Here he is the one with cancer and he is
comforting me.”
But as strong as he is, Reno won’t
sugar-coat his experience.
“Chemo made me so sick, I couldn’t think
straight. It gave me headaches and I cried myself to sleep a lot” he
said. “I would tell any child who has cancer to not worry what they
are going to look like when they are sick. Just worry about how they
are going to celebrate when they become cancer free.”
He also advises other families that the
right hospital is an important part of the solution. “The staff at
Texas Children’s Hospital is wonderful,” he said. “If you have to be
in the hospital, this is the place you want to be.”
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