Just when you need it most, along comes a story that lifts your spirits and gives you encouragement.
Daniela Villarreal rests against her mother and closes her eyes.
She’s tired but happy.
She knows she has reached her goal.
The 10-year-old Rio Grande City girl began a fund-raiser to earn $25,000 for a VeinViewer machine for the Vannie E. Cook Jr. Children’s Cancer and Hematology Clinic in McAllen.
Within a month, Daniela had achieved her objective.
And a special objective it was.
The VeinViewer is a machine that uses infrared light to create an image of a patient’s vein, allowing physicians and nurses to locate veins without unnecessary sticking. Officials say the machine, set to be presented today, will be the first of its kind in the Rio Grande Valley.
Why was this machine so important to Daniela? Because she has leukemia and knows what it feels like to have needle sticks in your arms.
The need for the machine is apparent from bandages that adorn Daniela’s arm.
“These doctors and nurses are great, but it is hard to draw blood — her veins are so small from the chemotherapy,” Daniela’s mother, Dolly Villarreal, said at the clinic Tuesday. Daniela had come in for a routine checkup.
Unfortunately, barring the supernatural, Daniela will not benefit from the new machine as much as other patients.
After four years of battling leukemia, Daniela’s own cancer is no longer in remission.
She is in palliative care — a form of hospice treatment.
Although she won’t benefit from the VeinViewer as much as other patients, she is happy because that was part of her goal, too — helping others.
Reading past articles about her, you can see that she has had a fighter’s mentality since she was diagnosed with this rare form of leukemia.
The condition is very rare. Daniela was classified as one of the 19 or so children in the entire world who had this kind of paralysis due to leukemia.
“When Daniela was first diagnosed with leukemia, she asked me why God was doing this to her. I told her that God never does anything bad, and you need to find something good out of all of this. She told me that if she hadn’t gotten leukemia, she wouldn’t have met all of the great people at the clinic,” says Dolly.
Thank you, Daniela, for who you are and the difference you have chosen to make with your life.
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Lots of love, faith and courage. Mom is doing a great job teaching and showing those traits while holding herself together.
That youngster sure is a cutie. Leukemia knows no limits.
Some people can live a hundred years and not do squat.
We can pray. This special child has not asked for anything for herself, but we can pray. If we have prayer lists, we can add her, our church lists, we can add her. We can have tons of people pray for her and her family. What a family.
That’s a great story.
I’ve known some nurses that need to carry one of those machines around with them at all times.
Outside it is raining cats and dogs and here at my computer it is raining tears for this extraordinary young girl as I read this heart-warming story. What courage she has. We can all learn from her to think she may not live much longer - she has truly made a difference in the world. She deserves some type of reward.
1-6: I agree. Bless her heart.
#5 Shannon
I wish they had had that machine at Bellville Hospital for Mom. It sure would have made her life easier. God Bless Daniela.
It is truly an inspirational story. I am somewhat connected as I am the distributor for the vein viewer in SE Texas. Although Daniellas Veinviewer was covered by our San Antonio rep who covers the valley, I am responsible for Texas Childrens Hosp here in Houston, where the main clinic is located.
I was in on a meeting of the TCH Cancer centers advisory board where Stanford Financial kicked in the remaining difference to help Daniella’s cause. In fact, the reason that she knew anything about the technology was due to another unit purchased for the TCH Oncology department by the same Stanford Financial group!
If you know anyone over there, thank them for their efforts!
If you dont know about the technology, indulge me for a bit. This instrument basically shows you a roadmap of the veins under your skin, down to about 1/4inch. Why is this important? today, 99% of the needles inserted into a patients veins (IV’s, blood, etc) is done by feel, similar to reading “brail”! If you have ever had the occasion for this proceedure, the nurses touch you where they think is a good vein, feel it, and then try to stick the needle in! Oncology, elderly, diabetic and many other areas of care have difficult to stick veins. If you did not see it, St. Joseph in downtown Houston purchased one for their NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) where all the premies go after birth. Those amazing nurses daily start iv’s in veins as small as a hair! well close enough. If you want to see this, there is a link on the vein viewer web site, I dont want to be accused of selling, but it is easy enough to find, and I promise you, the next time you get stuck with a needle, you will think about this cool technology!