PATRICINIO REPORT

"A Part of Something Big"

Kirsten Reinking

Tel. 222-5466

Email:  ifcpv@prodigy.net.mx

 

Patrocinio patient, Kenia Pastor Segura

This is Kenia Jacqueline Pastor Segura, one of our newest patients in our Patrocinio program. She’s a little girl with a big story, bigger than she probably realizes. Kenia is 3 years old, and came to us nearly deaf and with terribly crossed eyes.

Last Spring, Kenia’s mother and uncle walked into the IFC office while I was on duty, asking for assistance. Kenia was with them and she immediately she stole my heart, as I looked at this tiny little thing with these crazy wandering eyes, smiling at me. At first I felt reluctant to sponsor another patient in our Patrocinio Program, wondering if I was ready for the commitment and time involved. But with so few members in town with the time and Spanish language skills to communicate with her family, I soon felt that if Kenia were to receive our assistance I would be the best candidate. I just couldn’t ignore her family’s request for help when it looked like we could certainly do something for her.

My first doctor visit was with Dr. Veronica Suárez-Audiologist who comes down from Tepic every Saturday. Apparently she’s all we have here in Vallarta who can fit children with hearing aids. Dr. Suárez found Kenia’s hearing loss quite severe in both ears, but thought that perhaps with some extra strong hearing aids, she could hear well enough to learn to speak.

Since last spring, Patricia Mendez and I have been asking around for donated hearing aids for Kenia and three other Patrocinio patient’s of Patricia’s with hearing loss. Our efforts have turned up two sets of hearing aids from Dr. Paul Fleming in Cheboygan, WI for two of the patients. Another three hearing aids were donated to us from two patients of my father in law, Dr. Federico Reinking in Mexico City. I received Dr. Reinking’s hearing aids last week and we’ll have the hearing aids from Dr. Fleming in November. The next chance I have, I’ll take Kenia back to Dr. Suárez to see if any of the donated hearing aids will help Kenia. Dr. Fleming thought that her hearing loss was too severe to bother, but Dr. Suárez’s prognosis was a little more positive. We’ll need to find a good speech therapist for Kenia or enroll her in a school for the deaf, depending on the effectiveness of the hearing aids.

Our second step for Kenia was to address her eye problems. I took her to see Dr. Monica Gomez Rosensweig, Opthomologist, who prescribed eye surgery. We also learned that day, that Kenia has a heart murmur so Dr. Rosensweig recommend a pediatrician’s bill of health prior to surgery just to be sure that the heart murmur wouldn’t be an issue.

I later carted Kenia over to Dr. Cirillo Betancourt -Pediatrician at CMQ, who examined her and requested X-rays and an echocardiogram prior to giving his approval for surgery.

My next task was to find an economical facility for Kenia’s prescribed X-rays, blood work and echocardiogram. We also had to find a hospital with the proper equipment for Kenia’s eye surgery, willing to donate their surgery rooms

and supplies, as the Regional Hospital is no longer an option for such surgeries. Patricia Mendez suggested that I contact Ameri-Med for everything as they’d shown interest in working with the IFC and were well equipped for all that was required for Kenia.

After about two weeks of correspondence with Ameri-Med via email with our requests, they came through with flying colors. Dr. Antonio Matilla, the Medical Director at the time agreed to provide everything that we needed for Kenia, free of charge: blood work, X-rays, surgery room and surgery supplies! Dr. Leslie Swindle, with whom I had been corresponding at Ameri-Med, also provided her echocardiogram at no cost. I made all arrangements with Norma Arce, Ameri-Med’s Administrative Director, who was extremely cooperative and ensured that her personnel clearly understood our requests for Kenia. I was just amazed at how smoothly things ran. I didn’t experience any problems, delays or misunderstandings on Ameri-Med’s part. They were absolutely fantastic.

Once I had the required test results from Ameri-Med in hand, I ran them back to Dr. Betancourt. He found that Kenia’s heart murmur was not a problem, but her blood work showed anemia. So, we provided Kenia with an iron supplement for a month and then went back to Ameri-Med for another blood test.

Finally, in August, Kenia’s surgery was a go. Norma Arce put me in touch with Ameri-Med’s head nurse, Marisol who was such a sweetie; professional, capable and very friendly. Marisol was meticulous in thinking of all that Kenia would require. She asked me several questions and even contacted Dr. Rosensweig directly to insure that Ameri-Med would have everything ready for surgery.

It’s been a month and a half since Kenia’s eye surgery. I just talked to her mother and everything is going well. No immediate miracles, but she’s keeping her good eye patched as she strengthens her operated eye and says that Dr. Rosensweig assures her that Kenia’s recovery is progressing as it should be.

With so many doctor visits, and trips to Ameri-Med with Kenia, I’ve become quite close to her family. When I pull up in front of Kenia’s house and she sees my white van, she gets so excited. Wow, who would get excited about going to see the doctor! But, Kenia sure does. Kenia waves good-bye to a few of her 7 older brothers and sisters each time I cart her off, along with her mother, to yet another doctor visit. I think she likes the special attention my visits bring and the chance to get away from the house with just her mother. I usually find a toy of my son Bret’s in the car for her to play with and find that she’s so interested in the simplest things.

Kenia just amazes me. I love her spunkiness and smiles and fascinating way that she tries to communicate. She and her mother have developed a few simple hand signals but their communication is certainly limited. There are times when I observe Kenia’s communication efforts as she’s trying to elaborate on one thing or another, making sounds and using facial expressions, with her little hands flying every which way, and her mother and I just look at each other completely miffed. It will be wonderful to see the day that Kenia has her communication breakthrough either with the help of the hearing aids or through signing lessons. I wish so much for this day to come and will try all that I can to make it happen for her.