{"id":12300961,"date":"2025-12-25T05:00:36","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/?p=12300961"},"modified":"2025-12-26T03:54:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T11:54:16","slug":"wish-book-nonprofit-helps-families-endure-the-impossible-when-their-child-has-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2025\/12\/25\/wish-book-nonprofit-helps-families-endure-the-impossible-when-their-child-has-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Wish Book: Nonprofit helps families endure the impossible when their child has cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As Teena Punjwani and Deepak Nasta take stock of the last year, they sigh.<\/p>\n

“I feel like I’ve lived too many lifetimes in this one lifetime,” Punjwani said.<\/p>\n

The San Jose couple’s life together was thrown into chaos in February with a heartbreaking diagnosis: their 5-year-old son, Jayaan, had brain cancer. His parents had sensed that something was off last winter, when Jayaan’s writing skills nosedived at preschool and he mysteriously lost balance on the left side of his body.<\/p>\n

What followed were months and months of anxious days and long nights at clinics and hospitals as Jayaan, tough as nails, soldiered through his treatment plan: brain surgery and chemotherapy, plus a whirlwind of appointments for occupational therapy, physical therapy, blood tests and MRIs.<\/p>\n

Teena Punjwani cuddles her son, Jayaan Nasta, who suffers from a type of brain cancer, at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford on April 21, 2025. \n\nPhoto titled: \u201cCouch cuddles \u2026 a mother\u2019s arms, a child\u2019s safest place.\u201d \u2014 Teena Punjwani\n\n(Photo by Punjwani\u2019s husband Deepak Nasta) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through the ups and downs, though, the couple weren\u2019t alone. Staff from Jacob\u2019s Heart<\/a>, a nonprofit based in Watsonville serving families in Silicon Valley and the Central Coast who have a child with cancer, stepped in to help them weather the ordeal.<\/p>\n

After a hospital social worker pointed them to the nonprofit, the family said, Jacob\u2019s Heart provided a slew of resources with all the care and attention of a family member. The nonprofit has paid for their energy bills at home, plus their groceries and gas. Nasta is the family\u2019s sole breadwinner at the moment as Punjwani practically lives at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford with Jayaan.<\/p>\n

When the hospital discharged Jayaan earlier this year, Jacob’s Heart staff visited and played with him, bringing some of his favorite toys, like Mickey Mouse and Bluey.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit also dispatched van drivers to whisk them from their home to medical appointments, as early as 6 a.m. or as late as 10 p.m. \u2013 and in emergencies, such as a day this fall when Jayaan became unresponsive and landed in the pediatric intensive care unit for a month<\/p>\n

“They’re such an amazing team,” Nasta said. “We honestly could not do it without them.”<\/p>\n

The nonprofit\u2019s services are exhaustive: transportation to medical appointments, therapy and emotional support, parent support groups and grocery deliveries for families with immunocompromised children. The organization helps pay for funeral and memorial expenses. Specialized staffers known as family support specialists are liaisons with the families and connect them with whatever they might need.<\/p>\n