KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kids and teens battling cancer can sometimes miss out on the holiday spirit, going through treatments no child should have to go through.
But the holidays have always been a special time for 16-year-old Roxanne Rodriguez-Mite.
"I love Christmas so much," Rodriguez-Mite said.
She spends her December nights watching movies by the fire with her parents and four younger siblings. It's not what some 16-year-olds would consider an ideal night, but Roxanne is unlike any teenager.
"She's turning 17 in April and then she's finishing high school in a few months and then she's starting a certified nursing assistant program in January," mom Elizabeth Velez said.
You would almost never know Roxanne is battling one of the rarest and most aggressive forms of cancer, small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. She was diagnosed on April 5, 2023.
"I'm never going to forget that day," Velez said.
Roxanne went through six rounds of chemotherapy before going into remission at the end of 2023. But the cancer came back again this year, prompting more chemotreatments and immuno-therapy.
"Now it's just metastasized to different areas," Velez said.
Cancer has taken a lot away from Roxanne, like spending time with her friends and going to in-person classes in high school. But she's not letting her diagnosis get in the way of her dream of becoming an oncology nurse. She was recently accepted into
"[The nurses] treated me very well and I feel like if they helped me the way they did, then I can return that favor to someone else," Rodriguez-Mite said.
In between her treatments at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Roxanne's favorite hobby is reading, mainly Colleen Hoover's books.
"She was the one who got me into the books," Rodriguez-Mite said.
On Christmas Eve, a local Kansas City non-profit group called Elves of Christmas Present dropped off a very special gift for Roxanne from a very special author.
Dozens of presents arrived at Roxanne's doorstep, including a box of Colleen Hoover merchandise and copies of Roxanne's favorite books signed by Hoover herself.
"I'm just so grateful for all of this," Rodriguez-Mite said.
Many of Hoover's books focus on female characters overcoming the odds and finding their strength. It's a trope Elizabeth sees in her daughter every day.
"She's my rock," Velez said. "She really is."
Roxanne's small cell endocrine carcinoma has been a long and tough battle, but with the support of her family and even Colleen Hoover, she's not letting cancer write her story.
"Don't let other people dictate what you do in your life," Rodriguez-Mite said.
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