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He had a busy social life and loved hanging out with his cousins, creating music together.

Christian had just finished his last high-school football season when he developed a painful, lingering cough, which increasingly became uncontrollable. Doctors diagnosed him with severe asthma, but none of the medications he was prescribed seemed to help.

By early 2020, not only was Christian not improving, his symptoms were getting worse. He felt completely exhausted. He just knew something else was wrong, that his symptoms must have reflected more than just asthma.

“Going from my room to the kitchen would just drain my energy for the whole entire day,” he explains. “I knew that something was up, something big, because I've never been sick like that before.”

After more appointments and a trip to the ER, Christian was diagnosed with severe phenomena. It was a tough time. “Having to attend school was getting more difficult because his cough was unbearable,” recalls Christian’s dad, Sergio.

By March, his health had steeply declined. Christian was placed on a breathing machine, and barely had the energy to hold himself up. He’d lost a significant amount of weight—almost 50 pounds in just a few months.

Eventually, after many more tests, including a CAT scan and a PET scan, Christian was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Doctors had detected a tumor on the left side of his chest, right underneath his heart.

“We had no time to understand what was happening,” says Sergio. “We were told to bring him in to pediatric ICU immediately, and Christian received his first chemo treatment the very next day.”

Although Christian had a feeling that something bigger was going on, he didn’t expect it to be cancer. His cousin had received treatment for cancer in the previous year, with Christian by his side for support. So Christian had a good understanding of what lay ahead for him: the nausea, weakness, and hair loss.

“When I got the news, it just kind of sent me into shock,” he says, “but I knew I was able to get through it.”

Around the time of this diagnosis, Christian’s school shifted to virtual learning due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. Even so, it became difficult for him to stay engaged with school due to his weakened condition. Sergio says that at that time, Christian needed help to even log into his Zoom classes.

Eventually, his condition deteriorated so much that Christian resigned himself to taking time off from school, focusing on his recovery, repeating his senior year, and graduating in 2021 instead.

According to Christian, this was the toughest part of his journey. He was exhausted, overwhelmed, and—worst of all—he just didn’t feel like himself.

“There were days where I wouldn't leave my house—I was barely able to do anything,” he says. “It took all my energy out of me. I wasn't able to play games like I used to; I wasn't able to enjoy music. Everything was just super tough.”

Thankfully, following his second round of chemotherapy, Christian turned a corner. He was able to build up his strength and find the energy to catch up on his schoolwork, putting him back on track to graduate in the spring of 2020.

That graduation day was a bright, shining moment for Christian and his family. “Christian shocked everyone, because not only did he make up all his missing assignments while in treatment,” says Sergio, “but he also walked the stage and graduated with his senior class.”

Learning about his wish was another pick-me-up for Christian. When his social worker let him know that he qualified, Christian was immediately very excited—he had very fond memories from joining his cousin’s wish trip to Hawaii.

“I saw firsthand what they do,” Christian explains. “I went on the trip with him, and they gave him a really great vacation with a nice hotel and everything that he wanted.”

Given his lifelong passion for creating music, Christian knew immediately what he would wish for: He wanted a professional music studio in his garage. 

Prior to his diagnosis, he set up a workstation in his bedroom and began to record beats for his cousins to rap over. It was a lot of fun, but they lacked the equipment to take their music to the next level.

“His dream was always to own his own music studio where he can create freely and have the proper equipment to do so,” says Sergio.

While Christian was facing his treatment, COVID-19 restrictions limited the number of visitors he could have, so on top of the pain and discomfort, he faced a lot of boredom and loneliness. Thankfully, he had the support of his family, who called and video chatted often, and he had something exciting to look forward to: His new music studio.

“Even though he was not feeling well at the time, I still remember how happy he was when we received the email saying that his wish was approved,” says Sergio. “No matter how bad his day was going, he always cheered up when we talked about his wish.”

In early 2021, Christian’s wish granters made a socially distanced delivery of his equipment, and the family celebrated together with a small gathering.

He received everything he needs to set up a full, professional recording studio—two studio desks, studio monitors, an interface, a MacBook Pro, a 24-inch LG monitor, studio headphones, a high-quality microphone, and a full-sized 88-key studio keyboard.

The family is currently in the process of converting their garage to the perfect studio for Christian and his cousins to record in. He has big plans to launch his own record label out of the garage, producing and distributing music for artists in his community.

“It’s just really amazing and exciting that I get to have all this professional equipment in my hands now,” says Christian. “I will do a lot of good things with it.”

When he looks back at this wish, Christian is so grateful to the dedicated Make-A-Wish staff members and volunteers who went out of their way to help him. “You made one of my dreams come true,” he says. “It really helped me, and also all my family because a lot of my cousins, they like to do music too. So, you’re also making a bunch of other people happy.”

Today, Christian is finished with chemotherapy, and thankfully, most of his cancer is gone. His most recent PET scan revealed a small spot on his left side, near his lung, which doctors are closely monitoring. Thankfully, it has not grown in size.

Although he still has some bad days, Christian is looking forward to building up his strength again and plans to attend college next year. In the meantime, he has plenty of music and memories to create with his family.

Sergio says that they are looking forward to a brighter year, one for which Christian’s wish has helped set the stage. “Watching our son go through this was extremely difficult and at times we felt so helpless,” he says. “Make-A-Wish not only gives hope and motivation to Christian, but to our entire family as well.”

Thank you to the Quest Foundation for adopting Christian’s wish. Genentech also generously donated the studio keyboard.