On January 9th, Yanaris Rodriguez received the worst possible news. The medical team treating her daughter, Brianna Charlettte Blanco, for a tumor that was initially benign at the base of her tongue, formally informed her that, due to "shortages of medical supplies," the difficulties faced by healthcare institutions in the country, and the fact that her daughter's condition is unique in Cuba, they can do nothing further for her.
In a fragment of the communication from the medical team, which CiberCuba has accessed, the doctors state verbatim that "it is not possible to proceed with surgery" to address the pathology affecting the patient.
The mother, desperate, has turned to CiberCuba to make public a case that leaves her little girl without hope, and for this reason, she is asking for help to obtain a humanitarian visa that will allow Brianna Blanco to have surgery outside of Cuba.
The girl has been diagnosed with a cystic-looking lesion at the base of the tongue, in the midline, extending to the oropharynx, describing a fistulous tract that contacts the posterior inferior muscles of the tongue (a thyroglossal duct cyst). "This is the diagnosis according to the last MRI she had done, but they cannot access the location where it is; she has already been taken into the operating room three times and nothing comes out again," the mother notes in a WhatsApp message to CiberCuba.
The girl has been diagnosed with a tumor since she was three years old, and even though she has undergone three surgeries, there has been no improvement. "As the years go by, I am told that this tumor should not have been operated on because it could become malignant and accelerate its growth, leading to sudden asphyxiation and even death."
Brianna Blanco is the only reported case in Cuba with this type of tumor. "My daughter suffers from malnutrition, choking, and at this moment her voice is affected due to compression of the vocal cords. I am a desperate mother. I ask you to share this video to help me obtain a humanitarian visa so that I can travel and have my daughter operated on, as there are no solutions or resources for her in my country, nor personnel capable of performing this type of surgery," says Yanaris Rodríguez in a recording sent to CiberCuba.
Your case is not unique. Jorgito Reina, from Guanabacoa in Havana, has been waiting for almost a year for a humanitarian visa to undergo a bone marrow transplant in the United States, where his father lives. Even the current Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, advocated for his case before USCIS when he was a senator, but so far with no results.
The deterioration of public health in Cuba drives families facing serious illness into desperation. After COVID, the Cuban healthcare system entered a crisis and has not been able to recover. It is now known that the regime invests 14 times more in tourism than in health.
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