A Cuban mother desperate about her son's health situation is seeking help to obtain a humanitarian visa that will allow him to travel to the United States for treatment.
Arlety Llerena Martínez went to CiberCuba to present the case of her seven-year-old son, Jorge Esteban Reina Llerena, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoid leukemia when he was one year and nine months old.
"For him, there is no longer a treatment plan in Cuba. He needs a humanitarian visa to travel to the United States and undergo a bone marrow transplant," he revealed.
"On January 21, 2019, we were informed that the child had cancer and that with this disease he had a 75 percent chance of surviving," he recalled.
In these years, little Jorgito has been suffering the ups and downs of this illness, and his body has weakened.
According to Llerena Martínez, after the diagnosis, he went through a phase of invasive chemotherapy and oral treatment. Two years later, he had a relapse at the testicular level that required doctors to remove a testicle, and his chances of survival decreased to 40 percent.
In the last year, he suffered another relapse that dropped his chances of survival to 10 percent.
"He is at home now, but his seriousness is internal," the woman clarified. "He has been waiting a long time for his transplant and his body is deteriorating; he has been suffering from skin lesions for two years because, being immunosuppressed, they do not heal."
Jorgito spends all his time at home, unable to go to school, play with his little friends, or lead a normal life for a child his age.
At this moment, he is receiving medication to prevent his illness from progressing, but it does not mean a cure. Even so, he has had relapses. There is no treatment plan for him in Cuba.
"Only the bone marrow transplant remains, for which we have been in contact with a doctor from Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, willing to take on the case," he explained.
"The doctor sent me a letter of acceptance of the case and we started the procedures for the humanitarian visa through a lawyer. They tell us we have to wait for the appointment; but it's already been four months and they haven't called us, we are desperate," she emphasized.
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