It has been more than a week since thousands of nurses in New York City walked off the job, and one Bronx mother says the strike has upended her young son’s cancer treatment and left him fearful of returning to the hospital.

At home in Castle Hill, 5-year-old Jace is a happy child who loves video games and his cat, Mimi. But for the past six months, Jace has also been fighting a rare form of liver cancer, making the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore a regular part of his life.

His mother, Alyssa Hernandez, said before the strike, the nurses provided not only medical care but emotional support for her son.

“I had no complaints,” Hernandez said. “The nurses — it was a personal relationship. They got to know their patients. They made them feel at home.”

Hernandez said her son’s experience has changed dramatically since the strike began.

“It’s just become a journey of fear and pain for him at this point,” she said.

Hernandez said Jace now cries when he arrives for appointments and is afraid of unfamiliar staff members. She described witnessing distressing moments during treatment, including IV placements that left her son visibly shaken.

“He doesn’t feel safe there,” she said.

Hernandez said consistency is critical for children undergoing cancer treatment, and the disruption has been overwhelming for her family.

“The diagnosis is overwhelming. This is overwhelming for these children,” she said. “Unfortunately, he can’t advocate for himself, so that’s what I’m doing.”

While Hernandez said she supports the nurses and hopes they achieve better working conditions, she worries about how long families like hers can wait.

“You’re affecting not only the nurses,” she said. “You’re affecting the families of these children who are sick.”

With her son scheduled to receive chemotherapy next week, Hernandez said she no longer feels confident in continuing his care at the hospital if the dispute drags on.

“He has his chemo next week, and do I feel safe for them to administer that? Absolutely not,” she said.

Hernandez said she understands the labor dispute but wants hospital leadership to recognize the families caught in the middle of the ongoing strike outside the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore.