(2020, $667, Chontal) María Herrera Ramos is a young mother of 3 children, Abimael, 16, Stephen, 10, and Sebastian, 6. She was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer near the end of 2019, and the treatment cost and experience is a large burden for her and her husband Jimmi.
The community in Chontal held a day-long fundraising event for María and Jimmi on Saturday, March 14, which raised $840. The pandemic brought delays, and now costs and treatments have become even more complicated and challenging. I was able to obtain $160 to join after-the-fact with the pueblo's March fundraiser event and support her and her family during the pandemic. And now I've created this online fundraiser to also give you and others the opportunity to join in to that same fundraiser event after-the-fact, and participate together in giving the family a lift.
UPDATE 12/26/2020:
Hi, I'm glad to share some good news on María's progress. After taking a pause in her radiotherapy and chemo treatment because of its physical toll, she re-started it, and finally finished the treatment cycle and is pain free. This is great news!
In early January she has a check-up appointment, and in early February she has an ultrasound appointment so medical staff can get a look at what the tumor looks like. This is the big appointment.
In the meantime, María has again expressed her gratitude for all of the support she's received. I will continue to provide updates as they come.
UPDATE 9/16/2020:
Hi, I’m glad to post an update on María and the fundraiser.
As I mentioned before, this fundraiser is joined with the community effort in March, which gained $840 for María and her family. I had mentioned in the last post that we raised $643, and that the total given - including the $160 I was able to provide before returning to Boston in July - was $803. Well, we had a final additional donation, and I added in the balance to raise the present effort to $680. So, our total giving matches the community’s $840.
On Tuesday Sept 15, María received the $680, and she was very excited and grateful - it really gave her and her family a big lift. Her treatment was postponed again until Monday, as she’s tested positive for Covid, though she doesn’t exhibit any symptoms. She also has to have her kidney situation straightened out. So it’s a complicated situation, but she’s very relieved and grateful after receiving our support:
“Hi, all night I thanked God for all the people who are collaborating in support of my sickness. The costs are really tough… I had only had enough for this week….So, with my whole heart, I thank all the people who have helped me, I can’t find the words to thank you all for such great support. Tell that to them, and that I’ll be one warrior more against cancer. I love you all, a big hug. Don’t forget to thank them.”
She wants to send photos from the hospital, so you can see her fight against cancer, so we’ll see how things play out.
Her husband Jimmi also was very surprised and grateful: “I don’t have words to express my most sincere thanks for your support.”
So, I wanted to pass along their responses to you, as a continuation of the mission: reconciling barriers into bridges as brothers and sisters in God’s family.
Thank you all again, and I will continue to update here.
UPDATE 9/11/2020:
We're there!
A big thank you to the generous people who once again gave so much so quickly: the campaign reached its goal in 2 days! In fact, we raised $643 after fees, which is over $143 more than the goal. Through Barriers to Bridges, I will pay for the fees to get that amount in cash to María and her family, which I'll do through electronic banking and trusted friends in the village. (It's cash-only there.) With the $160 previously given, the total support for her and her family will be $803.
I am always amazed and impressed with the generosity of people in the face of suffering. It's what brings us together. I remember when the earthquake in Ecuador in 2016 brought the whole country together like I'd never seen. The following year was election year, and the country was divided all over again. It's a great reminder - especially during the height of the US political season - that it's in our so-human pain and vulnerability that unity can be formed by God and us, not in our own power.
I spoke by video with María this morning. I had sent over few photos and names of some of you who have donated last night. She is very grateful, and said she was thinking of you all night. She's still appears swollen and stays in bed in her aunt's house in Quito. One of the tubes in her kidneys has become displaced, and she'll be going to the hospital tomorrow for that. The start of treatment has been delayed a week to next Tuesday, Sept 15. But she's pain free, she appears hopeful, and she said she's more relaxed and accepting of what's happening.
So, thank you again, and I will continue to update here, as well as at
https://donorbox.org/support-for-cancer-treatment-for-maria-herrera
Best wishes for a safe and peaceful autumn,
Jerome
The Background Story
I had visited María back in December and January when I was in Chontal. She had been receiving visits from others in the pueblo as well. She had severe symptoms going back to August or so, and minor symptoms going back about 6 months before that. She was mostly house-bound, and the various pains she experienced prohibited her from sleeping, leaving her with low energy as well. She had been trying alternative remedies for about a month or so, but it wasn't clear if they were working, and the symptoms hadn't changed. I gently encouraged her to return to traditional medicine as soon as possible and have someone overseeing her care, and if she wanted to continue with alternative methods, to use them as an augment to her healthcare.
She ended up visiting the local health clinic in January, and they urged her to get to the hospital. She visited emergency in a public hospital, where a biopsy was taken, and she was given a follow-up appointment to review the results. However, in the administrative processing, the test processing wasn't placed in the emergency track, and she was given almost two months to wait for results of the tests. On February 28, she received news of the results of the biopsy, that she has Stage III cervical cancer. She was referred to a specialist, and she was scheduled to be admitted to SOLCA Hospital - which is Quito's private, cancer-focused hospital - when the pandemic struck.
That began 4 months of waiting, while transportation became exorbitantly expensive due to stoppages and closures, and while the hospital closed for a time. Near the end of that time, I was able to obtain some cash, and gave the family $160 to help with costs. Finally, in late July after I left Ecuador, she was admitted to emergency in a hospital in Quito, as her kidneys had become blocked and she had experienced jaundice and bodily swelling. That treatment having gone well enough, her cancer radiation treatment at the cancer hospital begins on September 8 (which is celebrated in the church as the birthday of the Virgin Mary, her namesake). The plan is to have 5 radiation treatments and one chemo treatment each week, for 5 to 6 weeks. I've read that patients with Stage III cervical cancer who receive radiation therapy have about a 60% chance of living another 5 years.
The cost of the treatments, fortunately, is completely covered. But she is staying temporarily in Quito for the duration of the treatment, and there are high costs associated with that, including her own daily housing and food and travel, as well as her family's frequent travel to and from Chontal, which is about a 4-hour bus trip away. Adding in the higher costs from the pandemic effects, and it has all drained their resources. There is also on the horizon the costs associated with any side effects - both short-term and long-term - from her therapy. And there is always the possibility of unexpected complications. All in all, there's a very challenging road ahead.
María's son Stephen received his First Communion on March 1, just a few days after María found out about her cancer diagnosis. She already had not been planning on going to the First Communion, as the ceremony would be too physically demanding for her. She comforted herself by deciding she'd go to his Confirmation 3 years down the road. Then the test results arrived and were devastating news for her. But I found out about her plans in a visit the day before the Mass, and by the next morning, had arranged for transportation for her to be present just for communion. We arrived at the Our Father, just in time for communion, and she and Jimmi got a front row seat for communion. It was a very moving experience, as she hadn't expected to be there at all, and her son had no idea that she'd be there, as he had been staying the last few days with his grandfather, who had taken him to the Mass.
There really is no other time guaranteed for this life but the present. Maria and her family and I would be grateful for anything you want to contribute.