Photo By Robert Whetstone | After his last in a series of radiation treatments for T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO – Shortly after completing basic combat training late in 2013, Pfc. Gustavo Moreno began defending his country, and literally fighting for his life. Moreno was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma (ALL); a rare subtype of adult non-Hodgkin cancer, commonly treated with intensive chemotherapy.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Moreno, a self-confessed basketball junkie and Spurs fanatic, found himself in a very grown-up situation during his senior year of high school; he was going to be a father. Moreno said he knew he had to do something as soon as possible. He had to step up, be a man and be there for his then girlfriend and now wife Valerie Hernandez, and their daughter Avalee.
While Hernandez remained home, Moreno went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for BCT.
"I didn't care [about Moreno joining the Army], as long as he didn't just disappear," Hernandez said. "I was still in school and 9 months pregnant when he left. I was so mad, frustrated."
"I went in October 2013 and didn’t come back till December," Moreno said.
After completing BCT, and a brief trip home, Moreno returned to Fort Sill in January 2014 for advanced individual training.
"I was doing PT [physical training], I was really fit," Moreno said. "I ran a 13:52 second 2-mile; did 80 pushups in two minutes; and something like 78 situps in two minutes; and all of a sudden, I started losing my breath; I’d get dizzy."
On the top bunk bed at AIT during a phone conversation with Hernandez, Moreno recalls feeling nauseated, dizzy and blacking out.
"I fell off the bed, went downstairs and was taken to the hospital," he said. "At first they thought it was bronchitis because I had a cough and it was hard to swallow."
It turns out Moreno had a 14-centimeter mass compressing his trachea.
When Moreno was diagnosed with cancer, he said "I was laughing, like I was in shock. I knew what cancer was, but I didn't know 'WHAT IT WAS,' especially when it comes to blood cells and all of that."
ALL is a type of blood cancer. It is the most aggressive leukemia in adults. ALL starts from white blood cells in the bone marrow, and develops from cells called lymphocytes. It invades the blood and can spread throughout the body to other organs. Without treatment, it can be fatal in a few short months.
According to bethematch.org, someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer like leukemia every three minutes. It can happen to anyone, at any time.
Moreno had the task of calling his wife to break the news to her. He said her father had passed away three years ago and the thought of losing him, with their new daughter being so young, was difficult. As expected, Hernandez cried.
"I'm not going to leave them," Moreno said. "I'm going to keep on fighting, everyday."
After the diagnosis, Moreno returned home to San Antonio and Brooke Army Medical Center to begin his chemotherapy. After one year of intensive treatment, he had a complete response and appeared to be free of cancer.
Things were going well as he continued on low intensity therapy, but Moreno experienced a setback -- the mass returned and spread to his blood. He was referred to The University of Texas MD Anderson Center for therapy and entered into a clinical trial with an investigational drug and when he did not respond he returned to San Antonio Military Medical Center for treatment.
A bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, is a procedure that infuses healthy cells, called stem cells, into your body to replace damaged or diseased bone marrow. Moreno is now reaching this point in his battle.
Today, doctors are controlling Moreno's cancer with radiation and chemotherapy.
"I'm hoping to get into remission enough to where I can still get the transplant," declared Moreno.
Awareness is extremely important to Moreno and Hernandez. Especially since minorities, particularly Hispanics, make up less than 10 percent of donors on the national registry.
"Even if I don't find a match, it's just something that needs to be out there and more people need to hear about it," explained Moreno. "More minorities and Hispanics need to join the registry."
"There are a lot of people that think that it hurts so they don't donate," Hernandez said. "When they hear, 'bone marrow transplant,' they think I'm going to be stuck with needles," Moreno said. "It's just like donating blood. Honestly, you're just giving of yourself to someone else, that way they can fight off the infection with your good cells. They might hurt a little bit; but they don't see everything we go through."
Doctors gave Moreno a few months to live, but he still has hope.
"There is always hope," Moreno said emphatically. "Even if the doctors say one thing, God has the last word."
Hope can come in the form of myriad organizations working tirelessly to help people like Moreno. One organization, the C.W. Bill Young / Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program – also known as Salute to Life, provides assistance to those individuals seeking to join the national registry of volunteer marrow and stem cell donors. Service members, Reservists, National Guard, Coast Guard, military retirees, and DoD civilian personnel who are between the ages of 18 and 60 and of good health can join by completing a simple cheek swab. (A list of installation-based recruitment drives, walk-in sites, and information to request individual registration kits are available at www.salutetolife.org).
“Approximately 70 [percent] of patients are unable to find a match within their own families and must turn to the network of volunteer donors for help,” said Kathryn Branstad, Donor Quality and Retention manager, C.W. Bill Young DoD Marrow Donor Program. “Our donors are amazing individuals; willing to temporarily disrupt their daily lives and give of themselves in a most profound manner in order to offer hope to someone they’ve never even met.”
Hope also comes from a solid support system. "I'm glad I was born and raised here," expressed Moreno. "I have all my family here; my wife's family is here, and that helps out a lot." Moreno went on to say, "The nurses and staff up there in 5T [SAMMC Bone Marrow Unit and Outpatient Clinic], they're great. They don't just look at you like a cancer patient -- they look at you like a friend."
True to the Soldiers Creed, Moreno's message to those who are in the same situation as he is to 'never quit.' And for those who don't know anything about his fight he says, "This is really important, I just want you to hear me, and please pay attention. You can save somebody's life."
UPDATE: After nearly a two year battle with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, on the day he was promoted, Spc. Gustavo Moreno passed away July 24, 2015. This also being his second anniversary, he was surrounded by his wife Valerie Hernandez, daughter Avalee, family members, and a host of Soldiers from his unit, Warrior Transition Battalion, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Moreno was 20 years old.
| Date Taken: | 07.21.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.21.2015 13:01 |
| Story ID: | 170671 |
| Location: | FORT SAM HOUSTON, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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