- September 6, 2024
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Luis Barguez of Parrish said his mom, Braden Woods' Vivian Quinones-Solano, spends most of her time trying to bring joy to others.
If they find that joy, it ultimately brings joy to Quinones-Solano. He tells his friends, it's what makes her special.
After she was diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma on May 11, 2020, the joy appeared ready to run out.
"I had something that looked like a small pimple in my earlobe," Quinones-Solano said. "I had gone to a dermatologist. I had a very aggressive form of skin cancer. The survival rate was 18 to 25 months."
Although Quinones-Solano, the vice president of community relations for SunCoast Blood Bank in Lakewood Ranch, said she would fight to the end of life, she also was prepared for the worst.
"I thought, 'God ... I've had a good life,'" she said. "I've loved every day for the last 24 years. I have been able to make a difference (at nonprofits collecting blood for communities). I have been able to make sure we have the blood when it is needed."
After making her peace, she began treatment, going to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.
She had her first surgery June 5 to remove her earlobe and remove lymph nodes in her neck. The lymph nodes showed the cancer had spread. By Aug. 1 she had more tumors on her ear and neck. Radiation treatments ran from Aug. 13 through Oct. 2.
By December, the cancer had spread to her chest with nine more tumors.
Prospects were dim when she was asked if she would participate in a clinical trial of Intralesional Immunotherapy with IFx-Hu2.0 Vaccine. It only been used in horses to treat advanced Merkel cell carcinoma except for two humans, in which it was unsuccessful. She was willing to try anything. Two tumors were injected on her chest.
Within a month, one of the tumors had disappeared and the other was reduced 40%. She was then was given the immunotherapy Babencio/Avelumab, which she will receive every two weeks for the next two years. Her tumors were reduced 75% and by Feb. 1, all the tumors on her chest had disappeared. by Feb. 25, a pet scan showed no signs of cancer in her body.
"I will spend Mother's Day with her," Barguez said. "Sometimes you take life for granted, then you learn how quickly you could be in a situation you never thought you could be in. It was an eye opener."
Quinones said it was much more than an eye-opener.
"One hundred percent, this was a miracle," she said. "A lot of people were praying for me."
It also gave her a newfound appreciation for accumulating blood and platelets, which can be important to cancer victims going through cancer treatments. She said chemotherapy often destroys platelets.
"I see it every day," she said. "Cancer patients need blood and platelets. I appreciate it even more that the donors who come here (to SunCoast Blood Bank) every two weeks give these people a second chance at life."
Once she appeared headed toward recovery, Quinones-Solano thought she would ask her son to give blood.
"I don't give blood regularly, and she asked me to do it," he said. "I guess, for me, it's more the matter of just finding the right time. But anything she asks me, I always do."
After Barguez gave blood, his mom wanted something more.
"We were talking," Quinones-Solano said. "How can we impact people? How about making a video about paying it forward."
So they did, Barquez flashing signs about how he donated blood for his mom, and asking others to do the same. They put it on SunCoast's Facebook site. Others started donating, and posting their videos as well. Anyone who wants to post a video can do so through Mother's Day.
"We wanted to create awareness," said Quinones-Solano, who is 57.
She has had her own increased awareness through the ordeal.
"It changes your perspective," she said. "You think you are invincible."
