JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — On October 7, 2019, 15-year-old Roxanne Ramos walked into St. Paul’s Catholic Church for Sunday mass. Although this is something she has done countless times, that Sunday welcomed a new milestone because she walked in without a wheelchair. Her foot was in a cast and she used a walker for some assistance, but it was still the first time Roxanne could walk in on her own two feet in over a year.
Her mom, Laurie Ramos, captured a picture of the joyful moment and posted it to her Facebook, writing in part, “She has three more weeks with the cast on to gain flexibility from the Achilles’ tendon surgery. We then plan to aggressively pursue physical therapy, so she can walk independently!”
At that point, Roxanne Ramos was on the up and up on her road to recovery after doctors had discovered a large tumor on her back the year before.
Her mom is no stranger to such a journey. In 2015 First Coast News featured Laurie Ramos in a story about local breast cancer survivors. It has created a unique bond that keeps her and her daughter strong and hopeful.
Laurie Ramos had tested positive for breast cancer in 2013; five years before her daughter would be diagnosed with cancer too, but a different kind of cancer. In 2018, Roxanne Ramos was diagnosed with a rare round cell undifferentiated sarcoma.
Laurie Ramos said she can still recall the exact moment they found out the news about her daughter. They had rushed Roxanne Ramos to a local hospital in Jacksonville after she had been experiencing severe pains. Doctors informed her parents that they discovered a large mass on her back. Laurie Ramos told them to not tell her daughter that it was a tumor yet.
“So they said, 'You know, Roxanne there is this mass on your back and we’re going to try to fix it,'” Laurie Ramos recalled. “And she’s so smart she said, ‘So I have cancer?’ and they said ‘Yeah…’ and right about then, I walked in. I had wiped my face, it was all red, she looked up at me and smiled and said, ‘Get over it, drama queen. If you can beat cancer I can beat cancer.’ I wanted to rejoice and fall apart at the same time. So in her mind, everything is beatable. ‘My mom beat breast cancer,' so that’s how it goes, she definitely draws from it.”
With faith and persistence, and hundreds of hours of chemotherapy, Roxanne Ramos beat cancer in late 2019, just as she expected.
However in March of 2020, just as the country began to adapt to a global pandemic due to COVID-19, Laurie and Roxanne Ramos returned to Wolfson Children’s Hospital for a series of tests. Doctors discovered a recurrence tumor of the same type of cancer. They were ready to fight again.
Laurie Ramos said, once again, Roxanne Ramos responded like a champion and has yet to shed a tear since hearing the news.
Due to the current situation with the coronavirus, Laurie Ramos is the one person who can go with Roxanne Ramos to the hospital.
“You know, last year when we were in the hospital, everybody could come visit us -- our priest, grandmas, sisters, everyone,” she said.
Laurie Ramos also expressed more concern for her daughter’s lowered immune system this time around with the threat of the coronavirus looming over them. Still, she said they "had to go for it" because they knew it was the best option at the moment.
“Here are all the things we're grateful for on this round, we're walking and not in a wheelchair, so that makes it easier and the mass is not as big this time," Laurie Ramos said. "The pain with the first one was excruciating.”
Roxanne Ramos’ first round of chemo this time around started the week following Easter. After 12 weeks of it, they will have her take an MRI to see if she is reacting positively to it. If so, they will continue with it. If not, they will move on to the other experimental options of chemo that she hasn’t used yet. They also submitted samples in hopes of qualifying for gene therapy, so she said they are praying for a match.
Her first week of chemo was difficult, but it led up to a very special day for Roxanne, her ‘Sweet 16.
The Ramos’ knew this birthday, like all Sweet 16s, needed to be special. So on the evening of Friday, April 17, an entire community came together to show their support and love for Roxanne Ramos. The Ramos family gathered in their driveway, surrounded by a yard full of decorations, and watched an amazing sight unfold in front of them.
Starting on 19th Avenue South in Jacksonville Beach, a long caravan of vehicles began a birthday parade celebrating Roxanne Ramos. Atlantic Beach Police, members of Jacksonville Fire and Rescue, neighbors, organizations, friends and groups of complete strangers, drove by in style, honking, waving, holding up homemade signs and balloons, playing music, dropping off gifts and shouting "Happy Birthday!" to the teen as they passed by her home. The parade of hundreds of vehicles, engines, patrol cars and motorcycles was so long it lasted for nearly two hours.
“Roxanne was out there for most of it," her mother said. "It was a fun, exhausting day for her. Her sisters were holding baskets up and people were giving gifts, honks, waves, prayers, love!”
Laurie Ramos said Duval County residents have a way of “coming together” when you need people the most.
“When you live in Duval, people support, you know what I mean?" she said. "One person reached out to another person to another person and before we knew it, it was like the whole front of the parade was vintage cars for I don’t even know how long.”
While many people in the community have been offering to start GoFundMe accounts to help the Ramos’ pay for their medical bills, Laurie said so far they have declined the offers. She said they have faith they can make it through as a family.
“We all can work 24 hours a day," Laurie Ramos said. "I can pay off medical bills for the rest of my life, because they can't take me to jail over medical bills, right? So I'll just keep paying and paying and as we see how things are going, maybe things change, maybe they won't. But I'm going to believe that things are the best for now.”
When First Coast News asked if the community can help out in any way, she made a few humble requests. She asked for prayers and she asked for a showing of support for the Kona Skate Park, which they own. They had to close the skate park down on March 13, but they hope to reopen it soon. She also asked that everyone continue to support all local businesses during this time.
“When we do open the skate park back up, I would love for everybody just to come skate and buy snacks," she said. "And that's how you can support us. Just prayers, supporting your local businesses and ‘Duval Strong.’ That's how we feel right now."
Although more chemotherapy for Roxanne Ramos means more exhaustion, nausea and hair loss, Laurie Ramos said she continues to make straight A’s in school. She describes Roxanne as “brilliant, resilient, faithful and fearless.” She said she continues to stay optimistic and inspire others around her. In a time of social distancing and uncertainty, she was able to bring a community together.
“She’s always going to see the bright side,” Laurie Ramos said.