Two days!

Yesterday the 28yr old mother, Ponciana had her leg amputated to mid thigh. She had gangrene in the tumor and it had spread. They had hoped to be able to go just as high as her knee but it wasn't possible. She will be staying in the clinic till Monday. We will be getting her a wheel chair and give her as much support as we can.

Obviously, this was a big shock to her as she had thought that she would just be getting her foot amputated....then the doctor told her it would have to go to her knee but when she came out of the operation, she realized that it was even higher. The doctor said that there was no choice, the gangrene had spread. He has sent a culture of the tumor away to the city and we will have to wait several days to find out the results.
The operation cost approximately $1,500 US...and we would be so appreciative of any donations to help towards this cost.
Ponciana will need a lot more care, she will need medication, she will need check ups and then we will try and get her a prosethetic leg.
The young baby Jose, is in the hospital in Guatemala City. He is at the Roosevelt. He also has a perforated anus.
We are still waiting to hear back from the doctors as to what they can do for him.
The mother has come back to Panajachel, she is not well and she has to look after her other two children. Her husband has gone to a clinic to seek help with his throat cancer.
The hydracephalis baby is in intensive care and we have not had any updates. They also sent the mother home.
Our young 11yr old boy who had plastic surgery on Monday to remove scarring from the horrible burns he suffered is undergoing another operation at the HELPS clinic today. He will be released tomorrow. This makes his third operation this week. His mother is staying with him tonight and we will pick them up from the hospital tomorrow and make sure that they have what they need before they take the boat back to Santiago.
Mayan Families Staff member,Mayerlin organized an exhibition of the crafts that the women have been making with the money that they received from the micro loans. The Rotary Club 3694 of Upper Arlington, Ohio and another group from Canada were very pleased to spend an hour looking at the great things that they are doing.
We took the members of the Rotary Club 3694 of Upper Arlington, Ohio on a tour of San Jorge yesterday. They visited the Elderly Care program and two of the women suggested that maybe their Senior program would be able to sponsor some of the women. That would be wonderful!
The Panajachel Women's sewing classes started up again this week. We have 10 women in the class who are learning to sew.
Dr. Louis De Pena has been continuing to work voluntarily with us seeing patients and treating them with the medications that we have available.
Today we took the Rotary Club 3694 of Upper Arlington, Ohio members on a tour of El Barranco, they saw the location of where the new center will open, they also were able to see foot looming and back strap and bought a few things to support the women in the group.
We then went to a very remote community high in the mountains and the Rotary Club 3694 of Upper Arlington, Ohio members were able to watch Julio and other Mayan Families staff members distributing water filters. This was a beautiful place, very high up and lots of apple trees coming into bloom.
Today, sadly , we are saying goodbye to Ely who has been managing the School sponsorship program. We wish her the best and hope that she will come back soon! Christine will be taking her place and has been spending the last month with Ely getting ready to take over. We are very happy to have Christine come to work with us. She will be here with us till August and then she will be going back to the U.S. to continue her studies. We hope to have a replacement "Ely" coming to join us in April and she will be able to work alongside Christine.
I also want to let you know that we are very fortunate to have Laura join our staff. Laura is an American and has worked in Guatemala before. She speaks fluent Spanish and has lots of great experience and qualifications. Laura will be working with me as my assistant and will be answering a lot of emails. I am sure you will be happy to know that you will be getting emails answered a lot quicker now!
Well, this has been a hectic week and with all these medical situations ...a very draining one.
Once again, thank you for all your support. The emails have been flying thick and fast between medical support people in the U.S., Jody, Jo , Peter Rohloff..... we are very, very grateful for the donations that have come in to help these great needs this week.
We are looking forward to the week end!
Hope you also have a peaceful, healthy and happy week end!
Sharon