This past Saturday, friends, family and prayer warriors gathered along Crawford Street by the Southside Senior Center to welcome home a brave little boy, Sonny Portillo, who had spent the last few months in hospitals receiving treatment for an aggressive form of papillary thyroid cancer.
But the fight has been going on for most of Sonny’s life when he was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of four. Before starting treatment, his parents, Jeanette and Ernie Portillo, were made aware of the side effects of the radiation, that being the risk of developing cancer elsewhere, but in order to save his life at that moment, they had no choice but to go through with the treatment.
“He got madullablastoma when he was four and he had radiation for 31 days, but the thing was, they said he could develop cancer again, but to save his life at that time when he was four, we had to do it. But he got exactly what they said he could get, and now eight years later, we’re fighting for his life yet again,” Jeanette said.
Last year, Sonny began to have trouble breathing and his parents took him to many doctors to see what was going on, the first one deeming Sonny as asthmatic, but as it became worse, they knew there was something terribly wrong. Sonny would undergo a scan and that’s when a tumor would be discovered on his thyroid.
The tumor and his thyroid would be removed, but the cancer had spread to his main artery and vocal chords, prompting immediate attention and treatment.
Since then, Sonny has spent the last few months in hospitals and treatment centers, and just a few days ago he was finally able to come back home, and through the efforts of Raelynn Miller and several close friends, Sonny’s homecoming was truly memorable.
Friends and family took part in a parade with the Pampa Fire Department joining in on the celebration, and once the parade was over, everyone gathered at the Southside Senior Center to feast, dance to music provided by DJ Rob, with the kiddos spending time in the bounce houses provided by B&G Electric.
Although his journey isn’t over, Sonny’s resilience and fight, backed by the support of many who love him, will surely overcome this obstacle a second time and finally be able to enjoy being a kid.
“The only thing my son has wanted is to just be a regular kid,” Jeanette said through tears. “He wants to go back to school and do everything that a regular kid does, that’s it.”
