Last week a new fund was created for clinic patients with special medical needs. In the past we have collected money for special cases through donations from our staff and friends here in Peru, but most of the time this is not sufficient to meet the needs that we have.
A recent example of a patient who needs assistance from a fund such as this is Milagritos, a sweet quiet 14 year old girl from a small pueblo outside of Contumaza in the sierra of Northern Peru. She came to Trujillo seeking a diagnosis for a rapidly growing mass in her lower abdomen. After a series of tests the doctors in Hospital Belen gave her a diagnosis-an ovarian tumor. Milagritos has relatives that live close to the clinic and they brought her into the obstetrician to explain the implications of her diagnosis.
Monday of last week she had an operation to remove a 30 cm ovarian tumor that weighed 3.5 kilos. We are still awaiting the pending pathology of the tumor and a biopsy of her colon (a twenty one day turnover!). She is being treated at the only cancer center in Northern Peru, which happens to be in Trujillo. This hospital does not accept government health insurance, which means the family will need to cover all treatment costs.
Because there is no such thing as St. Jude's here in Peru the family is doing everything they can to pay for the costs of the treatment. Her father is a farmer and has sold everything he can to come up with money for her operation. With the help of family and friends back home in the sierra, they have paid in full for the operation and other hospital expenses. However this is not the end of her story; she will likely need 6-8 rounds of chemotherapy, which cost about 500 soles per round, as well as other tests and hospital time (40 soles a day for hospitalization). It is quite incredible how little health care costs here, but they are still costs!
Another patient who recently had 2 operations in Hospital Regional in Trujillo is Sr. Jose Plascencia Cruz. Sr. Jose is 82 years old and travels across Trujillo every day to sell his 10 centimo (cent) candies in Hermelinda-the largest and most dangerous market in the city. Without any family to help him, he tells us he has to stay healthy to keep up his little business, always reminding us that 'he has his clients!'. He has been having prostate issues for the past 3 years, as well as a growing inguinal hernia for the past 4 months. Recently the discomfort became so debilitating that he was unable to work or walk to the clinic. He resolved to give up and live with the pain, and he just wanted us to help him by giving injections for his pain. But with the help of many donations from our Peruvian friends and interns, we were able to raise the money to pay for both of his surgeries. We also took him to get his public health insurance (SIS) renewed at the local posta (government-run clinic). Although going through the public hospital system was a long and tedious process, it helped us make the operations a reality.
Sr. Jose got out of the hospital this past Monday. The total cost of his prostate surgery, hospital stay and medications: S/224.50 ($79.19 USD). And everything else was covered under the public insurance. Now this doesn't include the time that the clinic interns spent waiting in lines, going to doctors visits, and meeting with social workers for several weeks. However it is a wonderful, eye opening experience for interns to learn the Peruvian public health care system, as well as minister to and serve these individual patients.
Consider a tax deductible gift to this charitable fund, it is a life changing ministry for the folks that receive help. Thank you!
Christian Missionary Society
P.O. Box 53363 Knoxville, TN 37950-3363
Phone: (865) 684-4580
(Wichanzao Clinic Patient Assistance Fund written on the memo line)
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