HOUSTON — The Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants approximately 600 wishes to kids each year.
Some children ask for trips and vacations; others want to meet celebrities.
But some of the kids have less glamorous requests.
Although some may think it sounds like an unusual wish, there have been five teenagers in the past year whose only wish was to attend the University of Houston.
A girl KHOU 11 met Tuesday night has a dream to one day be a cancer doctor, so she can help others like her.
Andrea Espinosa, 18, had no idea what she was walking into this afternoon when she went to take a tour of the school.
In the back of her mind, she already knew the tuition would be a financial burden she wasn’t willing to put on her parents.
Andrea wasn’t sure how she would pay.
“I am diagnosed with a desmoid fibromatosis tumor,” Espinosa said.
Although you may not be able to tell, two years ago, Andrea was very sick.
“My diagnosis was very unexpected,” she said. “I didn’t have any symptoms other than I had the feeling to pee, but I never needed to.”
After a series of MRIs, the doctors realized it was a tumor.
Andrea underwent two surgeries and chemotherapy but she says the tumor kept growing back.
“It is very aggressive and can invade your surrounding organs,” she said.
“Hospitals bring the medicine and we bring the magic,” said Yara Elsayed Guest, the president and CEO of Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana.
Years ago, when Andrea was diagnosed with cancer, she shared her dream of attending UH.
She hoped to one day become a doctor, an oncologist to be specific, to help the kids who are sick with cancer. Kids just like her.
“All hospitals that are treating kids for critical illnesses will refer kids to Make-A-Wish because they know Make-A-Wish is there at a time when the kids need us most,” said Elsayed Guest.
Make-A-Wish gave Andrea the one thing she wanted on Tuesday — assistance with tuition for her first year of college.
In addition to that, Oncology Consultants offered Andrea a spot in its internship program.
Classes begin for Andrea next week, and she is grateful to have one less thing to worry about.
That’s only part of the good news.
After a third surgery in December, her cancer can’t be found.
“We’re doing MRIs every three months, and so far, no tumor has been seen,” she said.