{"id":253600,"date":"2025-09-25T12:38:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T12:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/253600\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T12:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T12:38:13","slug":"san-antonio-family-raises-awareness-after-newborns-cancer-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/253600\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio family raises awareness after newborn\u2019s cancer diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and one local family is spreading awareness through their newest addition.<\/p>\n

Amauri and Katie Martinez already have a three-year-old son, and in late July, they welcomed a brand-new daughter, Penelope.<\/p>\n

Just as they were getting settled in, it was Penelope\u2019s grandmother who noticed something wasn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, she was about three weeks old, and you\u2019re just tired, you know. We already have one, we have a newborn, and we\u2019re trying to remember all the stuff,\u201d recalls Penelope\u2019s mother, Katie. \u201cMy mom noticed her left foot was like a drop foot, like it just wouldn\u2019t do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

A trip to the pediatrician, referrals to orthopedics and neurology, then physical therapy, a sonogram and finally an MRI confirmed the diagnosis and the family\u2019s worst fears. \u201c<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually a mass in her abdomen, and that\u2019s what\u2019s pushing on her spine, and that is when our entire world just shifted at that point,\u201d Amauri said.<\/p>\n

At barely four weeks old, Penelope was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that affects mainly children and forms in the nerve tissue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s about a little under 700 new cases every year, and it\u2019s the most common extracranial solid tumor that we see in infants,\u201d said Dr. Ricky Rodriguez, an oncologist at CHRISTUS Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

So far, Penelope has undergone two rounds of chemotherapy and will continue treatment every three weeks.<\/p>\n

According to Dr. Rodriguez, the overall survival rate for intermediate-risk Neuroblastoma is over 90%. For those that present with spinal compression, as in Penelope\u2019s case, some studies show up to 73% of patients will go on to have complete resolution.<\/p>\n

An additional scan in October will determine how well she is responding to the chemo. In the meantime, the Martinezes are trying to stay strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think as a mother, address these little miracles. And she still is,\u201d Katie said. \u201cBoth of our kids and their strength give a lot of strength to us. I think as a mother and as a parent, you always want to be everything for your kids. It\u2019s really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Dr. Rodriguez, after unintentional injuries, pediatric cancer is the leading cause of death in children. As for symptoms of Neuroblastoma, experts say belly pain or a lump under the skin are among the signs to seek medical attention.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and one local family is spreading awareness through their…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":253601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,235,210,23773,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-253600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cancer","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-ksatkids","12":"tag-san-antonio","13":"tag-sanantonio","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115264979356837332","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}