"When you were born, you were so cute and small; but I didn't know you. I was wondering whose child you were," Joan Mercader jokes with her son Calvin.
Joan and Calvin find it easier to laugh and smile these days; after all, they've already gone through so much.
"When you were born, you were so cute and small; but I didn't know you. I was wondering whose child you were," Joan Mercader jokes with her son Calvin. Source: Joan Mercader
Calvin was only two years old when he was diagnosed with childhood leukemia. At that time, Joan had applied for a student visa to Australia; but following the diagnosis, withdrew her application so she could be by his side while he received intensive chemotherapy.
Calvin was the "golden boy," the first grandchild of his grandparents. No one from the family knew how to pick themselves up following the news, much less Joan who felt like her world had come to an abrupt end.
"I remember waking up the morning after the diagnosis and, realising it wasn't a dream. That was the hardest part - realising it wasn't a dream," she shares.
The reality of the situation hit hardest when an already-fragile Calvin had a stroke following all the treatments he had to undergo. Joan and her husband Monch were told that their two-year old boy had only days to live.
Due to treatments and a weakened body, Calvin's teeth fell out and he had to wear a mask. Source: Joan Mercader
"I couldn't process it. When I realised that I might not see you grow up, I thought I would go crazy. When I drove you and Dad to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), I felt there was a very thin line I could cross and just go crazy; but I couldn't leave you," Joan shares with Calvin.
Not leaving meant witnessing a miracle.
"[When I entered your room in PGH], you were pooping and then you said, 'Mommy I'm hungry' and you demanded I give you food. Everyone was looking at you in wonder because suddenly you were talking again," Joan says to Calvin.
After the ordeal, Joan re-applied for a student visa to Australia when Calvin turned four.
Joan had three months-worth of school, which then led to her successfully obtaining a Registered Nurse (RN) license and, an eventual employer sponsorship. From obtaining a work visa, it took her a year and half before she could bring Calvin to Australia; but because he was sick and still undergoing chemotherapy, Joan could only obtain a tourist visa for her son.
Joan and her classmates from Nursing school. Source: Joan Mercader
"When I got you, you were on a tourist visa, but your dad was on a work visa, under my visa. So alternating between me and Dad, we would go home with you every three months. We would get your tests done and then we would come back. It was hard because we were always apart," she shares with Calvin.
Hard times eventually came to an end. After five years of chemotherapy, Calvin was declared cancer-free.
The Mercader family, who found strength in the unimaginable, now enjoys a normal life in Melbourne.
Hard days came to an end and, Calvin was eventually declared cancer-free. Source: Joan Mercader
"I am grateful for you, your sister and your dad," Joan shares with Calvin, "We have such a good life, don’t we?"
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"I am grateful for you, your sister and your dad. We have such a good life, don’t we?" Source: Joan Mercader
