Don Martin, amputee, in constant pain.

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Friday, March 11, 2011

Don Martin, amputee, in constant pain

In 2002, Martin was working in the fields near where he lived, and he felt what he thought was a splinter in the bottom of his foot.  When he looked, though, there was no splinter.  Soon, his toes began to swell, and within hours the swelling reached up to his ankle, his knee, and then his thigh.  He went to the hospital that same day, but doctors there didn't know what was wrong.  They washed his leg every day and tried to get rid of the swelling, but nothing worked.  Soon blisters appeared from his foot upward, and then the tissue began to die. Doctors told him that he had just a week to live if they didn't amputate his leg. 

Though Don Martin was reluctant, he agreed to having his leg amputated just below his knee.  He left the hospital shortly afterwards, after a stay of three and a half months.  When he left the hospital, Don Martin still had an open sore on his thigh, just above his knee.  After going home, he never returned to the hospital, and he hasn't seen a doctor since.  Though Martin cleans the sore regularly with clean water and herbal antiseptics, it has grown bigger and bigger over the past 9 years, and it causes Martin constant pain.  He rarely leaves the house, and he often can't eat or sleep because of the pain in his leg. 

Martin, who is 44, lives with his wife, Josefa, and four of his six children (the other two are married and live elsewhere).  His son, 19, and his son's new bride live with them, as well as his 13 year old daughter, 7 year old son, and 3 year old daughter.  Also living in the home are Martin's mother and sister.  Martin and his mother are unable to work because of their health problems, and his wife takes care of the housework and the children, leaving the family to depend on the income of Martin's sister, who weaves traditional cloth, and his son.  Finances are very stretched, and neither Martin nor his mother, Tranquilina, who suffers from chronic nosebleeds and headaches, had been able to seek medical care until Mayan Families arranged it.

The doctor would like to begin Don Martin's treatment by dressing the wound with wet to dry bandages, but these require a lot of gauze, as well as saline solution, which, though they are not terribly expensive, are more than Martin and his family can afford.  They will need about $12.50 per week to buy the supplies they need to properly care for Don Martin's leg, and hopefully end the pain he has been feeling for nearly a decade.  To help, go to Donate Now, and enter the amount of your donation in the Family Aid section.  Enter the Family Name as FA116. Thank you so much for your support.