Elsy's Cancer Treatment in Colombia
Donation protected
This is Elsy. She is my girlfriend, and she had been diagnosed with metastatic cancer with masses in her uterus and lungs. We met over a year ago in Bogota, Colombia where she lives, and we have been to see each other several times and we want to be together, and now this illness may destroy that hope.
Elsy has two young daughters and is only in her forties. She thought she had a cyst, which is common in women her age, but the slow, plodding healthcare system in Colombia has only now arrived at any real diagnosis. Even now, there are more tests to be done but "all the doctors are going on vacation and you have to wait until January" is seriously being used as an excuse for them to wait still longer. It's like no one cares, and she still has to PAY for this basic level of healthcare.
I'd like her to go to the National Cancer Institute in Bogota, which has some revolutionary new treatments that have so far done very well with cancer this advanced, but failing that, perhaps she can go to the MD Anderson center in Houston, TX. Either way, she is going to need money for treatment, possibly travel, and definitely to cover the income shortfall while she is not allowed to work (she gets only 30% of her wage, and only for one month, it seems).
As it happens, this is a GREAT time to donate money to this cause, because the dollar has risen against the Colombian peso by about 25% since August (which is an unusual jump), but prices in Colombia have not risen to reflect that. This means that all of your dollars actually stretch further than they would have even a few short months ago.
She is getting help from friends (including lawyers), advice, support, but the one thing in shortest supply is money. I am doing what I can, and I will be there when she needs me, but this case has been handled so poorly and this needs to be contained and stopped NOW. Metastatic cancer is not the death sentence it once was thanks to wonderful institutes like the ones I've mentioned, but apathy, dilly-dallying, disorganization and laziness still too often make it that way. Please help me keep her beautiful children, her family, her friends and her spirit from suffering because of this broken system.
Because the system has been so slow with final details, or any treatment planning, I don't know how much will be needed, so trust me, any extra above and beyond the goal I have listed IS going to make a big difference. Just getting faster treatment will cost money. Treatment may cost 100 million pesos, who knows? But as that's about $40,000, it is still within reach. Help us do what we can, and you won't regret it. Thank you.
Ozgur K. Sahin
New Treatment at National Cancer Institute, Bogota Colombia
Elsy has two young daughters and is only in her forties. She thought she had a cyst, which is common in women her age, but the slow, plodding healthcare system in Colombia has only now arrived at any real diagnosis. Even now, there are more tests to be done but "all the doctors are going on vacation and you have to wait until January" is seriously being used as an excuse for them to wait still longer. It's like no one cares, and she still has to PAY for this basic level of healthcare.
I'd like her to go to the National Cancer Institute in Bogota, which has some revolutionary new treatments that have so far done very well with cancer this advanced, but failing that, perhaps she can go to the MD Anderson center in Houston, TX. Either way, she is going to need money for treatment, possibly travel, and definitely to cover the income shortfall while she is not allowed to work (she gets only 30% of her wage, and only for one month, it seems).
As it happens, this is a GREAT time to donate money to this cause, because the dollar has risen against the Colombian peso by about 25% since August (which is an unusual jump), but prices in Colombia have not risen to reflect that. This means that all of your dollars actually stretch further than they would have even a few short months ago.
She is getting help from friends (including lawyers), advice, support, but the one thing in shortest supply is money. I am doing what I can, and I will be there when she needs me, but this case has been handled so poorly and this needs to be contained and stopped NOW. Metastatic cancer is not the death sentence it once was thanks to wonderful institutes like the ones I've mentioned, but apathy, dilly-dallying, disorganization and laziness still too often make it that way. Please help me keep her beautiful children, her family, her friends and her spirit from suffering because of this broken system.
Because the system has been so slow with final details, or any treatment planning, I don't know how much will be needed, so trust me, any extra above and beyond the goal I have listed IS going to make a big difference. Just getting faster treatment will cost money. Treatment may cost 100 million pesos, who knows? But as that's about $40,000, it is still within reach. Help us do what we can, and you won't regret it. Thank you.
Ozgur K. Sahin
New Treatment at National Cancer Institute, Bogota Colombia
Organizer
Ozgur Sahin
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN