Pete Battles Prostate Cancer

A couple weeks back my Dad and Brother took me to Costa Rica for Spring Break. Our driver/guide in San Jose, Olman (Pete) Rodriguez is 52 years old, father of 14 kids, (still paying child support for 6), and for 3 days took us through the coffee fields and local markets, hiked with us up to the La Paz waterfalls and to the top a giant active volcano. Pete has the ultimate spirit of adventure, lives life in the fast lane (all his tours are turbo tours), and has such a positive outlook on life. Every day he has a habit of going into one of the local catholic churches and says a quick prayer of gratitude.It didn’t take long to realize that Pete is suffering from some serious health problems. He kept stopping the black ‘92 Nissan Pathfinder to “check the radiator” which we thought was always leaking. Later we discovered that it was Pete pulling off on some mountainside road and running out to the front of the vehicle, lifting the hood, and relieving the pain in his bladder caused by his prostate cancer (that he has was diagnosed with 5 years ago). Like many people around the world, and in the US, Pete lives hand-to-mouth and cannot afford the full spectrum of health care. After our visit, he took the initiative to negotiate a self-pay price for the procedure he has been delaying for so long. You can’t take care of your family if you’re not around. The procedure would normally cost $8-$10K in the US, but he planning to get it done for $2K with a kind-hearted Costa Rican Urologist. On Pete’s behalf, we’d like to drum up any alms/donations from our friends in the States, no matter how small, to help this man with such a lust for life, continue it…