It was a routine visit to the doctor for Jason Mohica of Aiea. The annual checkup was one of the tools the veteran firefighter used to stay healthy for his demanding job.
But the day after an August 2021 doctor visit was not routine. His life would suddenly change and upend the lives of his wife and two sons.
“I had to do a routine blood test and I didn’t think much else about it,” says Mohica. “The very next morning, on a Saturday, I got a call telling me to report to the emergency room as soon as possible. At first, I thought something happened to my family. But the doctor on the phone said, ‘No. It’s regarding the blood test you took yesterday.’”
The test revealed a high amount of immature blood cells, known as blast. Mohica told the doctor he’d go on Monday, but “the doctor was pretty adamant. She said this couldn’t wait until Monday.”
It was leukemia, an aggressive cancer usually starting in the bone marrow. The blast cells were a tipoff that something was wrong.
“I didn’t feel bad or sick. It didn’t make any sense to me at all,” Mohica says. “It took a while to fully understand what was really happening.”
Within a couple of weeks of that ER visit, Mohica began chemotherapy at Straub Benioff Medical Center. By February 2022, he had completed his fifth and final round of chemo. He still needed frequent checkups and more blood transfusions, which were done at Pali Momi Medical Center, before he could return to work.
Mohica says two important lessons emerged from his leukemia diagnosis and recovery. One is the importance of regular checkups with your doctor.
“That’s how it was discovered. It’s absolutely huge. I recently lost a co-worker to cancer. He was in his 40s. So everyone in our department is trying to figure out a way to get everybody screened earlier for these things.”
The second lesson is the ongoing need for blood donations. Mohica says his leukemia treatment came during the pandemic, so the Blood Bank of Hawaii was extremely short on donations.
“There was actually a time when my blood came a little late. It took a little longer than normal,” he says. “When the blood did come in, the nurse told me it came from Arizona. I’m thankful that strangers from out of state helped save my life, but we need to have enough donors here.”
A regular blood donor for years, Mohica says he never knew anyone who needed blood. “I never even knew that my blood was being used. I just knew that it was good to do. Now that I was on the other side of this, I kind of understood because now I needed the blood. And that’s when I felt proud of myself for doing that.”
From left, sons Sage and Aiden with Ivy and Jason Mohica.
Now a firefighter for 20 years, Mohica says there was one other important facet to his recovery - the love and support of those around him.
“I had a huge support system. My family, the doctors, my friends, my church, and the fire department, my co-workers. Since my wife was going to stay at the hospital with me the whole month, the guys were cooking meals and delivering them to my boys at home. The fire department really came together as a family and my boys got a little spoiled, actually.”
Photos courtsy Jason Mohica.
WI25F
