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December 18, 2024 • 13 mins
Today we grant a Christmas Wish for Mai Vang, who is recovering from cancer and facing hardship after hardship.
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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Believe in the magic of the Holidays. Dave Ryan's Christmas Wish.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
I was talking to our wisher this morning, cob I
was on the phone with her last week and con
and I were having a discussion about how I didn't
want to go on the treadmill. So I was having
a big discussion because ky I was trying to figure
out a way to not get on the treadmill.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Remember that, ca I do you know how long did
I keep you on the phone? Anyway? Probably too long?

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Yeah, I think it was fifteen minutes.

Speaker 4 (00:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
I was like, I can't keep you any longer.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Now. We had a great time. Kyle, You've been listening
to the show for a long time, right since you
were a little kid. Yes, okay, and you never thought
you would do a Christmas wish, but here you are
with a Christmas wish that we will do in just
a minute. Every day we do a live Christmas Wish
today there are two, and every day we have somebody

(00:49):
from College muscle Movers, usually Brandon, head out to the
house to actually deliver the things for the wish. Let's
talk to Brandon from College Muscle Movers, who, by the way,
provide fifteen free muscle boxes and an on time guarantee
with every single move. Thanks for doing that, Brandon. What
city are you in right now? Where is College Muscle

(01:11):
Movers headquartered? Where do you have to You got to
drive over, You're gonna drop your car off, you got
to get the truck.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Where are you guys located.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
We're located in the same Paul Brandon Midway area, so
kind of see faragunds.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Okay, gotcha. So you do the move.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
You do this early in the morning, and then you
gotta move and load refrigerators and things like carry couches
up and downstairs and things like that.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Thanks for all you do. Watch for patches of ice, Brandon.

Speaker 4 (01:35):
Okay, good, Okay, gotcha.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Okay, hold on, Brandon, thanks for doing what you do.
Let's get our wish er on the phone. This is
actually your sister. Okay, tell me a little bit about
like how many kids are in your family.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yeah, there are seven of us total.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Okay, all adults. Yes, Okay, let's call your sister my
right now.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
So you obviously are very close with your siblings and
your siblings you guys have.

Speaker 5 (02:05):
Yeah, so there's seven of us total, and even though
we all kind of lift separately. We all still see
each other at least probably like two times a week.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
So what's the ranking?

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Like, how old are you?

Speaker 3 (02:16):
And that's seven?

Speaker 5 (02:17):
Yeah, so I am the baby. Okay, I'm thirty one. Oh,
you don't have to tell me how old. But my
oldest sister is forty one.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Okay, hello, I'm calling for my please. Oh yeah, this
is her, my surprise. It's Dave Ryan on the radio
over at kd WB. Have you heard of KATWB?

Speaker 4 (02:38):
I have?

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
I know you're confused, but let me ease your mind
a little bit. Everything's good. I'm here with your sister,
causay cos say hi to your sister.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
I oh hik.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Do you have any idea why we might be calling on?

Speaker 4 (02:54):
No?

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Okay, well we're about to explain. And like I said,
it's good news. Uh Ka wrote in to our radio
station for a thing that we do every year called
Christmas Wish, where we ask for people to tell us
about somebody who might need a little bit of joy
and support and love.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
For their Christmas.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
So Ka wrote in a letter about you and your
family and your situation, and if you've got a minute, Mie,
she'd like to read that letter right now.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Is that okay?

Speaker 4 (03:22):
Oh yeah, that's fine, Okay, whenever.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
You're ready, Okay, all right.

Speaker 5 (03:27):
I would like to nominate my oldest sister may for
Christmas Wish this year. It's been a challenging two years
and I hope by sharing her story she sees how
much love there is for her. Maye is the oldest
a seven and is a mother figure to us, the
younger siblings. Our father passed away when we were all little,
and my mom worked long hours, so Mi had to
step in and take care of everything. When her friends

(03:49):
were going out and having fun, she was picking herself
from after school, helping us with homework, and cooking dinner.
To this day, she still tries to support us in
ways that she can everything for our family.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
In twenty twenty two.

Speaker 5 (04:02):
My sister went to the er due to severe cramping,
and after numerous says, she was diagnosed with stage two cancer. Unfortunately,
in a short couple of months, it developed to stage
four cancer. My sister left work to start chemo right away,
and while while battling cancer, one of my other siblings
suddenly passed away. In between planning a funeral, Ma would

(04:23):
step away for Chimo. Sometimes we skip birthdays and holidays
because gathering together brings sadness to our family. My sister
Chimo began causing permanent nerve damage, especially in her hands.
She tried to go back to work, but had to
leave again due to her job being one hundred percent
computer based. Maya has had to tap into her savings

(04:44):
to continue paying her mortgage and bills. My mom, who
is seventy, also lives with her, and when Maya doesn't
go to the doctor for herself, she has to take
my mom to her doctor's appointments. Us younger siblings also
take turns going into their house to shovel, rake and
mowd the lawn. After two years of prayers in chemo,
I am happy to share that mice cancer is in remission,

(05:05):
but the journey is not over yet as she continues
to do chemo bi weekly to ensure it doesn't come back.
Her immune system is significantly weaker, and she was recently
hospitalized due to a kidney infection.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
She just cannot catch a break.

Speaker 5 (05:19):
It has been a challenging journey for my sister, and
she carries it all by herself, thinking it will burden
us by asking us for help. This is the first
time she's ever chosen herself, and it's not even because
she wants to, it's because.

Speaker 3 (05:31):
She has to.

Speaker 5 (05:32):
To my sister, I want to let you know that
it's okay and that we will take care of you
now and you don't have to worry about us younger
siblings anymore. Today Ryan's Christmas wish, Please grant my sister
the Christmas she deserves and needs.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Are you surprised, my at your sister's wish for you?

Speaker 4 (05:57):
Yeah, there's a lot of people with no worse situations.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
This is one of the amazing things that we always
notice with Christmas wishes. People just don't expect or or
feel like they deserve or need anything. But you sound
so deserving. You're taking care of your mom. Your mom
is seventy, which is not old, but you know some
people are seventy are very healthy and can drive and
get around. But you can take care of your mom.
Your mom lives with you, right, Yes, so true. And

(06:23):
you've had so many struggles. Your cancer is in from remission,
but you go how often you go in for chemo?

Speaker 4 (06:30):
It's every like three weeks, like some day.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Yeah, and what I know about chemo that can sap
your energy and sap your strength and kind of make
you feel not yourself.

Speaker 4 (06:41):
Yeah, it's very tiring.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
How are you feeling today.

Speaker 4 (06:46):
I'm feeling a lot better than the last few weeks
with my infection too. But because you have the kidney infection, yeah,
I did. I was recently in the hospital so.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
Well cos sas you were in the hospital. How long
were you in the hospital.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
It was just a one day but it wasn't too bad.
But yeah, but.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
You're you're not able to work because you did work
with your hands on keyboards and computers and this has
caused what nerve damage to your to your hands.

Speaker 4 (07:14):
Yeah, I have really been a ropathy and it's in
my hands and think it's my hands, my fingers.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
So in her letter, your sister Ka said she cannot
catch a break. Do you feel that way sometimes? It's like,
you know what, you get past one hurdle and then
here comes boom, there's another hurdle.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
Do you feel that way sometimes?

Speaker 4 (07:34):
Yeah? For you know the last year, I've been feeling
like that.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Well, what Christmas wish is is we get a chance
to do something wonderful for you to make you feel loved, appreciated,
support and supported. Have your burden eased a little bit.
So Christmas Wish is not just a phone call. There's
so much more. And this is where the fun stuff
comes in. And we're gonna start with that right now
for you. Oh my, we got a bunch of things

(08:00):
that they're going to deliver right now. There's a guy
outside your house from college muscle movers. He's going to
be knocking on your door in a second. Go ahead
and let him. And he's got a bunch of tough
for you. Let's start off with some fun stuff here.
We got a Ninja Professional plus kitchen blender system and
eight cup food processor which includes a smoothie blender, five
speeds ice crusher that is being sent to your home.

(08:21):
Somebody tipped to celt You might enjoy that. We got
an extra warm winter coat. We chose purple. This purple
a good color.

Speaker 4 (08:27):
Oh yeah, my favorite color.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
Good.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
We nailed that one.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
We got a hoodie and sweatpants. We got some other
clothes for you when you get a chance, when you
find yourself with some time, We've got a two hundred
dollars massage and the gift card you headed to a
massage Envy. You get your massage and one hundred and
fifty dollars Visa gift card to spend for whatever you want, Christmas, food, whatever,
and two Target gift cards that are both worth twenty bucks.

(08:53):
They're donated by the staff at Patron Points in Woodbury.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
So thank you.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Isn't it wonderful if you listen to Christmas Wish you
hear all these people that go, I want to help,
I want to donate. So we've got a bunch of
things that were donated. ZI is is that's mom?

Speaker 1 (09:12):
Is Mom? Okay? Where's Mom? Where's Mom? Right now?

Speaker 4 (09:16):
She's here and yeah, I'm your speakerphone.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
Hi, sigh.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
Mom, Okay, he's actually looking out the window. It can
be she's probably looking at the guy from college muscle.
We've got check this out. We're pretty excited about this.
When we've got a full size bed and frame along
with a mattress protector and sheet set.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
It is ordered and being sent to your home. Is
there a need for a new bed for Si your
mom at home?

Speaker 4 (09:52):
Oh yeah, we were just talking about that the other day.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
Well, we've got that taken care of. That'll be delivered
very shortly. Weather tech matts for your car. Those are
also ordered and sent to your home, which are kind
of nice and some fun stuff like a Michael Kor's purse,
war wode and a three Listen to this one. Mom
likes flowers? Is that true?

Speaker 4 (10:15):
Yeah, she loves flowers.

Speaker 1 (10:17):
We got a three.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
Hundred dollars Bachman's gift card to just kind of like
load the house up with floral arrangements and fragrance and
the fun flowers from Bachman's. We also heard are the
kids coming over? It's not snowed a lot yet, but
are the kids coming over during the winter and shoveling
snow at your house?

Speaker 4 (10:36):
I was on that and getting them to come over.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
Well, guess what, when they come over, they're going to
fight over who gets to come over now. But because
you're going to get you a brand new snowblower from
home depot.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
Get one thousand.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Dollars toward a snowblower, and you can get a two
hundred dollars snowblower or one thousand dollars snowblower that's kind
of a monster with the chains on the tires.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
Nice.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, that's a nice one. But we've got that so
there's no more snow shoveling over at your house. And
one hundred dollars gas card for you guys too, for
driving back and forth to wherever you're going, whether it's
for your treatments or just going to the store. A
one hundred dollars gas card from Holiday Station Stores. And
this season, I'm going to read this because we want
to plug them give more with Holiday Station Stores gift

(11:16):
cards by now and help fight childhood hunger. A portion
of every card sold goes to no kid hungry, so
spread joy and make a difference. Holiday Station Storage gift
Cards a gift that truly gives back. Three hundred dollars
cub Foods gift card I'm almost done.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
And one hundred dollars.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
Broadway Pizza gift card thanks to Broadway Pizza. And this
is all just to you know, we wish the best
for your health and your situation, but we just want
to give you a little bright spot in the day
and let you know how loved and supported you are.
And maybe this is the first of big breaks, because
like Cos said, you can't catch a break, but now

(11:52):
it feels like you have caught a break, and maybe this.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
Is the first of many.

Speaker 4 (11:56):
Yeah, thank you, thank you so much. I'm so I
don't know what to say. I'm I'm speechless.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
I think there are so many people who are kind
of maybe not in your exact situation, but they're taking
care of someone who's older. They've got their own struggles,
they've got some financial struggles, and we wish we could
take care of everybody. But we found you, and I'm
glad we did.

Speaker 4 (12:21):
Thank you. Yeah, thank you so much. I just so
thank you, Dave, Ryan, the community, everyone, Oh my.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
Gosh, you're so welcome. I'm so glad that we that
we ran into you. And thank you Ka for nominating
your sister. And I will let you too say goodbye.
When are you going to see each other again?

Speaker 3 (12:43):
Probably?

Speaker 4 (12:45):
Yeah, probably today.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Thanks for being honest one.

Speaker 4 (12:52):
Yeah, thank you Ka. He didn't have to do this,
but oh my gosh, yeah, maybe very much.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Well, I'm so glad we did, and thank you, and
thanks of course some all of our sponsors that help
us out so much, Holiday Station Stores and Treasure Island Resorting, Casino,
Youth Link.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
We're doing a wish for them.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
I think tomorrow today Friday Choice Bank is our banking partner,
People First Choice Bank and College Muscle Movers and think
you Kah for suggesting someone for Christmas wish, and thank
you for listening to KDWB
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