Volume V, Issue 3 :: July 2011

Hello,

Update of the Fernando Story.

After obtaining a birth certificate, passport and then a medical visa (B2) Fernando traveled to Detroit on June 19th. I picked him up at the airport and drove him to Saginaw. He was in a lot of pain during the drive and had difficulty sitting on the hip with the large tumor. Synergy Medical and Covenant Hospital provided his preoperative workup and all other services. On Wednesday, Dr Anthony deBari, removed a nine pound tumor and did an internal hemi pelvectomy. The tumor was a chondrosarcoma with a 50% recurrence rate. Fernando was kept in the hospital for a few days and then Covenant TCU rehab unit. He received daily physical therapy and progressed well

He even got to attend a baseball game and threw out the first pitch.

He returned home to Guatemala on July 12, 2011. I knew there would be some difficulty getting him back up to the village he lives in as the trail is rock covered and steep. I sent a gurney with the team that was to take him home thinking it would solve the problem. However, when his family and the villagers came to the river to get him they had a better solution. They used a hammock with two of the men at each end. He was finally home!! He cannot work or put weight on the hip for 3 months so we are going to raise money to send food to his family monthly (fifty pound bags of beans, rice and cornmeal). I will be going to Guatemala in October with a team and will visit his village for an update.

Alan R. Barber, DDS
Chairman, True North Missions