‘Second to second’

A 30-minute commute may not seem like a long time, but for Albert and Elly Armas it was too long.

Every second could have been the last for their son, Jaysen.

The new parents stressed and worried about their boy’s health. They wanted to stay closer to the hospital. The Armases said they were lucky to find the Ronald McDonald House in Orange.

The house, two minutes from the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, allows families to be close to their hospitalized children. The Armases took advantage of the facility for about six months, sleeping at the house when Jaysen’s health was critical and freeing up a room for other families when he was doing better.

Almost five years later, the family is still grateful for the services the house provided. Once a year, Albert, a Huntington Beach business owner, Elly, Jaysen and now baby girl Tyler Armas go back to the Ronald McDonald House to cook dinner for families staying there. And this Sunday, the family plans to participate in the first Walk for Kids, a 5K benefit for the house.

The nonprofit organization provides places for families to stay nationwide. The house in Orange has 20 rooms, laundry facilities, computers and a communal kitchen where dinner is cooked almost every night. Families are asked to pay $10 a night, but aren’t turned away if they can’t.

The house tries to create a home-like environment, said Deborah Levy, the executive director of the Orange County Ronald McDonald House.

“We provide a place to stay for families of critically ill children,” she said.

The Orange County house hosted 1,000 families last year at a cost of about $1.3 million. The house, like most nonprofits, has had to scale back because of the economy. The upcoming walk has already brought in more than $100,000 in donations, which will “bridge the gap for this year,” Levy said.

‘A pretty stressful situation’

Jaysen’s problems started before he was born. In between normal checkups, Elly Armas, who worked in a doctor’s office, was excited about her first son and did her own sonograms with a friend to get extra pictures.

The pictures, however, showed Jaysen had a swollen stomach, more than two times what it should have been.

The doctor and specialist didn’t know what was wrong, and Elly Armas had an emergency C-section six months into her pregnancy. Jaysen was 1 pound, 9 ounces, Albert Armas said. He was in neonatal intensive care unit for more than three weeks, but doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him.

“He was really small. At first, we really couldn’t touch him. We were scared we were going to hurt something,” he said.

Jaysen was moved from the Whittier Presbyterian Hospital to CHOC, about 30 minutes from the family’s home. The commute was hard for the new parents, who didn’t know how long their first child had left.

“When your son’s minute to minute, second to second, that’s a pretty stressful situation,” he said.

Long process, short commute

During the transition to the new hospital, a nurse told them about the Ronald McDonald House, which immediately took them in, Albert Armas said. The house was a two-minute drive from CHOC, allowing them to stay close to Jaysen without worrying about hotels or dinner.

“Once we got there, the staff made it so easy,” Elly Armas said.

The family stayed there off and on for about six months, staying at the house when Jaysen was doing worse and going home when he was doing better.

“It made the biggest difference in the world,” he said.

Jaysen’s health was a roller coaster, due to underdeveloped lungs from being born early and unknown stomach issues. Doctors didn’t know if he could eat, and the baby went through test after test. For the first two months, Elly Armas said she wasn’t sure her son would live.

“It was horrible. At that point, I really didn’t even think he would make it,” she said.

Doctors eventually diagnosed Jaysen with unconnected intestines. After multiple surgeries, he is like any other 4-year-old boy and has his good days and his bad days, Albert Armas said.

“I really truly believe that Jaysen just had a really strong will to live,” Elly Armas said. “He’s a fighter.”

How To Help

What: Walk for Kids

Where: Honda Center, 2695 E. Katella Ave, Anaheim

When: Registration 7 to 8 a.m., walk 8 to 10 a.m.

Information: www.ronaldhouseoc.org