Joseph’s Story: Young Patient With Rare Cancer Treated at Texas Children’s Is Now Cancer Free

When he was just three months old, Joseph was diagnosed with a cancer so rare, it had previously been identified only once — in another country.

His mother, Maria, had first noticed that something was wrong with his left eye.

“It was constantly watering,” remembered Maria. “Doctors treated it like an infection, but it kept getting worse. We knew something was wrong, but everyone said it was just caused by infections.”

Over the next few weeks, Joseph’s parents grew increasingly concerned because his left eye was starting to look smaller and to open differently. Joseph’s dad, Justin, was familiar with Texas Children’s Hospital — he was born there himself — and knew it was the top-ranked pediatric hospital in Texas.

“Justin said we should just make an appointment at Texas Children’s,” said Maria. “I’m so glad we did.”

The diagnosis

First, Joseph was seen by Dr. Honey Herce, an ophthalmologist at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. She requested an MRI — scheduled for that same day — and Maria felt instantly relieved that her concerns were finally being addressed.

“I was so grateful,” said Maria. “Finally, someone was taking us seriously.”

That afternoon, as soon as Dr. Herce saw the results of the MRI, she called Joseph’s family and advised them to go to Texas Children’s Hospital right away. What was originally considered an infection was actually a tumor, she said, and they needed a biopsy. “The cancer team will be expecting you,” she said.

Justin left work early and rushed home. The whole family drove together to the Texas Children’s Emergency Center.

“I’m so happy we went to Texas Children’s,” said Justin. “The thing is, I was very premature when I was born, and Texas Children’s took care of me and made sure there were no complications. With Joseph, we kind of felt like we were getting the runaround at other places. But Texas Children’s actually listened to us. They did an MRI right away — they took care of my son.”

When they arrived at the ER, Joseph’s parents were anxious to see that it was completely packed with people. They worried about the wait and felt overwhelmed. However, when they approached the front desk and provided Joseph’s name, they were immediately admitted. 
Doctors performed a biopsy. That same day, they broke the news.  

“It was a rare type of tumor called a spindle cell tumor,” Dr. Jennifer Foster, Pediatric Oncologist and Director of the Developmental Therapeutics Program at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center, told Click2Houston.com in a feature story about Joseph that was published in 2024.

“Unfortunately, about a year after that, his tumor came back and came back pretty aggressively and grew quite large again on the same eyelid. At that time, we took another sample of the tumor and found, unexpectedly, that it changed and transformed into a very rare form of tumor that we call an undifferentiated sarcoma.”

Undifferentiated sarcoma is a rare type of soft tissue cancer that spreads quickly. Typically, it starts in the arms or legs, or the back part of the belly — rarely, it can also affect bones. Joseph’s case — a spindle cell tumor that transformed into undifferentiated sarcoma — is exceedingly rare.

“But they never gave up on curing Joseph,” said Maria. “His entire team was so wonderful. They helped us through every step of his treatment, and they collaborated and worked together to save his life.”