In many ways, ten-year old Raina is just like most young girls – she enjoys spending time with friends, playing games, and listening to music, especially, Hannah Montana. Her mom, Erma quips, “It’s Hannah Montana 24-7.” However unlike most kids her age, Raina has had to overcome some pretty

difficult challenges in her life, including 3 surgeries to remove a tumor over her kidney, chemotherapy and radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. All are scary things that no child should have to experience. Nevertheless, they were critical pieces of Raina’s treatment plan to battle neuroblastoma, which she was diagnosed with in August 2008.

Still reeling from her daughter’s cancer diagnosis Erma had no idea where they were going to stay while Raina received intensive cancer treatment at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, more than 170 miles from their home in San Luis, Arizona. Erma recalls, “To tell you the truth we don’t know where we would have gone. We could have stayed at the hospital, but that’s not comfortable. We didn’t know the Ronald McDonald House existed in Phoenix until we found out about it from our social worker in the hospital.”  

When Erma and Raina arrived at the House in August they had no idea of what to expect.  Erma commented “We thought it would be one big room with beds, like a shelter.” They soon found out that Ronald McDonald House was a place they could call home. They could sleep in a comfortable bed in their private room, eat nightly meals prepared by volunteers, and gain support from other families in who understood the challenges they were facing. “Once we got the room at the House, we were finally able to get some rest—it’s a big help,” Erma says.

The Ronald McDonald House has been Erma and Raina’s “home away from home” for 8 months.  Raina has successfully completed her bone marrow transplant and they hope to return home to San Luis very soon.

Thanks to friends like you Ronald McDonald House is able to help families like Raina’s face incredible challenges together and find comfort in a during an incredibly difficult time.