GISSELLE GONZALEZ
Belle Glade

Child’s brain tumor delivers blow to family’s hopes

The photograph of the little girl with the long, flowing, coffee-colored hair collects dust atop the TV of her family’s cramped trailer home in Belle Glade. She is Gisselle Gonzalez, 4, a shy girl with a sweet disposition.
The photograph was taken before Aug. 20, before the day doctors gave her parents the most devastating news of their lives: There was an aggressive, cancerous tumor growing at the base of Gisselle’s brain, causing severe headaches, dizziness and drooling.
Four days later, the girl underwent surgery, but doctors could not remove the entire tumor. They put her on chemotherapy and radiation, but if the treatment falls short, the remaining tumor may threaten Gisselle’s life.
Gisselle has lost her hair and cannot walk steadily on her own. Still, the girl’s parents, Rita and Jose Gonzalez, have faith their only daughter will be healed. They know the odds are against them. They’re poor, dependent on government assistance and the kindness of loved ones and strangers.
Rita, 28, must stay home to care for Gisselle and her younger son, Ezequiel, age 1. Her older son, Jose Jr., is 7.
Jose, 31, was laid off from his job a week after Gisselle’s surgery. A glitch on his Social Security ID has forced him to halt his job search. When that matter gets resolved, he hopes to find a job driving a bulldozer or working construction. For the time being, the family subsists on Gisselle’s $623 monthly disability check and $524 food-stamp allotment.
Rita believes there’s a greater purpose to her family’s suffering.
“I would say this happened because God wanted us to be more faithful to him,” she says. “It was very shocking in the beginning, but there’s a reason for everything.”
Gisselle’s diagnosis, she says, has brought the family together. Her brother, Lazaro, visited from San Diego. Her sister, Norma Leticia, came to visit from Brownsville, Texas.
As she gives Gisselle her medication each day through a tube in the girl’s stomach, and counts the days between doctor visits, scans and spinal taps, Rita dreams the dreams she’s always had for her daughter.
She wants to watch her play outside. She wants to help her with her homework. She wants to take her to Disney World. She wants to comb her long, beautiful hair again.
In the meantime, she prays.
“We can’t ask God, ‘Why did you do this to me?’ ” says Rita. “We should ask instead, ‘For what reason?’ “

The Gonzalezes’ wishes

What they asked for: Air-conditioners, food and gas gift cards, clothes for Gisselle and her brothers. Gisselle loves Dora the Explorer toys and wanted a Power Wheels Barbie Jammin’ Jeep.
What she received: The third-grade class at Binks Forest Elementary in Wellington dedicated the cost of their class party to give cash and gifts to Gisselle. Rhonda Levine and her daughter, Amberley Gin, donated a Barbie Power Wheels car and Dora the Explorer toys and clothes. The Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative gave the Gonzalez family two bikes, clothes, shoes, diapers, toys, games, $600 in cash and pest-control service for a year. The nurses at Palms West Hospital donated Dora the Explorer sheets and diapers. And Connor Moran Children’s Cancer Foundation used donations from Post readers to set up the family with a 1999 Toyota Camry, complete with car insurance and gas cards, food cards and a boy’s bike.
What she said: “To see the tears in mom’s eyes as we gave her the keys, and the smiles on her children’s face is what the Season to Share program is all about,” says Teri Van Buren Moran, Connor Moran executive director.

Nominated by: Connor Moran Children’s Cancer Foundation
Address: 825 U.S. Highway 1, Suite 200, Jupiter, FL 33477
Phone: (561) 741-1144
Its mission: To improve the quality of life, strengthen and stabilize South Florida families who face the devastation and uncertainty of cancer.