This year will not go down as a good year health-wise for Cecilia Vargas, her daughter and son.

In April, the 48-year-old Kaimuki resident was diagnosed with breast cancer. Three weeks later she had a hysterectomy, which required her to be out of work for four weeks.

"I have medical bills I'm juggling," Vargas said. "My credit is still good because I contacted all the doctors and made payment arrangements."

Radiation treatment for the breast tumor is now over and Vargas is looking to the holidays for some fun for her family. And, even though she holds a full-time job as a civilian employee for the U.S. Air Force, she's stuck in a Catch-22 of paying back the advance she took on her vacation pay while she was recuperating, paying the bills and providing for her family day-to-day.

Her son, 18, has Asperger's disorder, a form of autism, something he's had since the fourth grade. In addition, he has an anxiety disorder that keeps him from going out and socializing with peers or working, Vargas said.

And her 21-year-old daughter dropped out of college just this semester because she developed an infection after her wisdom teeth were removed. She spent a month fighting the infection and now she's better, but needs to re-enroll.

Her son attends Loveland Academy, a private center that teaches children with neuro-development disorders. It's a day school where he excels at art, particularly drawing, Vargas said. She first noticed that he had developmental difficulties when he was 18 months old, she said.

She was a single mom then and she's still a single mom now.

Until recently, she was the sole support for her children. Only recently she began receiving child support, Vargas said. Section 8 housing helps, as do other social programs.

Vargas is hoping that someone will adopt her family and help with the organic foods she gives her son in an attempt to control his autism. He loves to draw anime Japanese art and would like a drawing pad or sketch pad and pen for computer animation, she said. She doesn't ask for anything for herself, just her son.

"He's really a good artist," Vargas said. "The schools aid; they want to try to help him publish his drawings."