Nerlin Alvarez
Nerlin is a five-year old boy living in El Cantón, Teupasenti, a mountainous, agricultural community in rural central Honduras. When Nerlin was younger, his mother says that he played with his brothers and sisters normally. One day he complained of a headache. Nerlin’s mother gave him acetaminophen, which helped with the pain temporarily, but he continued to complain about the pain. Very worried about the continuing pain, Nerlin’s mother took him to the government-run Centro de Salud (health center) in Teupasenti three days later. Here, he received an injection for pain, which helped him feel better for the time being. Mirian says that he had an hour without crying after receiving the injection, but later the pain resumed. Walking from El Cantón to Teupasenti takes about 2-2.5 hours each way.
Nine days later, Mirian put together enough funds (about $3.00 USD each way on the bus) and took Nerlin to Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa where they told her that Nerlin had a tumor in the middle eye that had to be removed. Mirian recounts that his eye was neither red nor swollen; everything appeared normal apart from the head pain.
Twenty-three days later Nerlin received the operation to remove his left eye and insert a prosthetic eye. All exams of his eye after the operation confirmed that the tumor and cancer were both gone.
This operation took place over one year ago. Since then Nerlin has had to go to Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa every 2 months for one year. His mother or father (but not both) goes with him to every appointment; only one parent goes because of the cost of travel.
Now, Nerlin is growing and healthy, leading a normal life with his family. He is outgrowing his eye and needs a replacement prosthetic. The eye costs 800 Lempira (about $40 USD) with 200 L (about $10 USD) for transportation for Nerlin and his family member to and from Tegucigalpa. The actual operation to replace the eye is free because Hospital Escuela is a pubic, government-funded hospital.
Additionally, Nerlin needs to have an MRI every 6 months to mark note of his progress and make sure that the cancer has not returned. The cost for the MRI is about 2,000 Lempira (about $100 USD); he has not yet received one since the original operation because of the cost.
UPDATE! Thanks to the generous donation from Athletico, we were able to provide Nerlin with the monetary funds to receive a transportation, an MRI, and a specialized replacement prosthetic. On Saturday, December 8th, Dr. Bruce accompanied Nerlin and his father to the hospital where Nerlin was able to finally receive his replacement prosthetic eye! The family sends their immense gratitude to those who made this possible!
For fundraising questions or general inquiries about any of these cases, please contact program developer, Courtney Ferreira at courtney@globalbrigades.org.