HELP GAEL TO GET EAR IMPLANTS!

My name is Carla Soto and I want to help my friend Patricia Gonzales to buy a cochlear hearing implant so that her two-year-old son, Gael can hear for the first time. He has Deep Bilateral Hearing Loss, which means he can't hear from either ear, and therefore he can't speak. He needs to have surgery before he's 3 year old. We just have 4 months before that, his birthday is January 2nd.
 
As a mother of two healthy children, many times I have shouted at them to be quiet. Irritated at their bickering, whining and senseless protesting that threatens to destroy my peace of mind. Who among us hasn’t done that? This is a blessing actually, because my friend Patty has never had to tell her little one to be quiet or to please turn the volume down, actually she has never heard his voice and he has never heard hers. Gaelito is 2 years and 8 months old, and he has Deep Bilateral Hearing Loss, which means he can't hear from either ear, and therefore he can't speak.

The path with Gael has not been easy, at 10 months he was diagnosed with Renal Tubular Acidosis. A disease that happens when the kidneys do not properly remove acids from the blood. Thisprevented Gael from gaining weight and stunned his growth, in addition this posed other complications that could even trigger kidney failure. So, even at that early age, treatment and drastic changes in his diet had to be initiated to stabilize his condition, something that even today has yet to be achieved 100 percent.
 
While Patty and her husband Edwin were fighting for Gael's good health, they noticed that even though he was more than a year old, he did not speak. Initially they thought this might be because of the entire medical process he’s been going through. Still Patty began to observe Gael much more closely, something wasn’t right. Many people told her to relax, to not be so negative and to recognize he is a happy child despite it all. One day, while they were at a birthday party, a balloon burst right behind Gael and he didn't even move.


 
Patty and her family are Peruvian. In Peru it is supposedly mandatory to perform hearing tests on newborns, but in practice these are almost never done. So it was with Gael, he didn't have an auditory exam at birth either. In Peru the public healthcare system is broken because corrupt politicians steal a portion of the money, and the full amount of budgeted funds is never available, this creates shortages to a degree that often the most basic healthcare needs are not available. Many times, the patients themselves (or their close relatives) must purchase and bring with them the medical supplies and medicines for their scheduled operations, examinations etc. Appointments are often scheduled for several month into the future, and getting a good and timely diagnosis is a matter of pure luck (especially for the relatively poor). This is a symptom of a system strained by its own reactiveness and lack of sufficient funds. Thus, it wasn’t until Gael was 1 year and 8 months old that it was discovered he has total deafness in both ears.
 
Throughout this odyssey it was necessary for Patty to leave her office job in order to take care of Gaelito, who now needed not only a special diet and medicines but more specialized care and intensive therapies to be able to communicate. Additional tests and appointments were also needed to determine if he might be a candidate for a cochlear implant, which is a device that has two parts, one that is implanted inside the ear and one that is used outside as a hearing aid. The good news is yes, Gael is a candidate for surgery and an implant can be placed in each ear. The bad news is that for the operation to be successful and that (with the necessary post-surgery therapy) Gael can one day hear his mother’s voice and himself be able to speak; the operation must be done before he turns 3 years old. A 4-month window is all that remains between this and a lifetime without being able to hear and speak. Sadly, in ESSALUD hospitals, where Gaelito is cared for, there haven’t been implants available for months and it is unknown when if ever, they will have them. Yes, this is Peru's public health care system and it has to be suffered by all those who have no money or lack the opportunity to have private insurance.


 
Since Patty is not a person who gives up easily, she decided to find out if she can buy Gael the implants herself. It is possible to purchase the implants directly from a company that manufactures them in the country. But the process is complex and there is no financial aid available to her. The implants cost $23,000 each and that's not an amount of money that Patty or her family can ever acquire on their own. So, we ask for your help, a donation to raise enough money so that Patty can at least buy one implant for her son and so that Gaelito can get the surgery and with time and therapy he can one day hear his mother’s voice and have a voice of his own.
 
It’s so easy to take the simple things for granted, but imagine how different your life would be if you could not hear or speak. Imagine a son who can’t hear his mother say “I love you!” and a mother who may never be able to speak with her son. In just four months when Gael celebrates his 3rdbirthday will it be a joyful time to celebrate, knowing he’s been given the greatest Christmas gift of all time or will it mean he’ll be sentence to a life without hearing? Please help. We need to raise at least $30,000 to purchase one implant and have enough to pay for the surgery and other associated costs.

Thank you!
 

HISTORIA EN ESPAÑOL: Logremos que Gael nos escuche

Mi nombre es Carla Soto y quiero ayudar a mi amiga Patricia Gonzales a comprar un implante auditivo coclear para que su pequeño Gael, pueda escuchar por primera vez. Gaelito tiene Hipoacusia Bilateral Profunda, lo que quiere decir que no puede escuchar por ninguno de sus dos oídos, y por ello, no puede hablar. Para que su operación sea exitosa debe ser realizada antes de que cumpla 3 años, lo cual sucederá en 4 meses, pues su cumpleaños es el 2 de enero.
 
Como mamá de dos hijos sanos cuántas veces no he les pedido silencio, desesperada por sus peleas, quejidos o protestas. Mi amiga Patty, sin embargo, nunca ha tenido que decirle a su niño que haga silencio o que por favor baje el volumen, porque nunca ha escuchado su voz y él tampoco la escuchado a ella.
 
El camino con Gael no ha sido fácil pues primero, a los 10 meses, fue diagnosticado con Acidosis Tubular Renal, una enfermedad que sucede cuando los riñones no eliminan correctamente los ácidos de la sangre. Estono permitía que Gael gane peso ni crezca adecuadamente, además de otros malestares que hasta podrían desencadenar una insuficiencia renal, por lo que en ese momento se tuvo que iniciar un tratamiento y cambios drásticos en su dieta para estabilizar su condición, algo que no se ha logrado al cien por ciento hasta hoy.
 
Mientras Patty y su esposo Edwin luchaban por recuperar la salud de Gael notaron que aunque ya tenía mas de un año, no hablaba, pero pensaron que esto podía ser debido a todo el proceso medico que venía atravesando. Sin embargo, Patty empezó a observar a Gael mucho mas de cerca, mientras muchas personas le decían se relaje, que no sea negativa, que se le veía como un niño feliz a pesar de todo. Un día, mientras estaban en una fiesta de cumpleaños, un globo de reventó justo detrás de Gael y él ni siquiera se movió.
 
Patty y su familia son peruanos. En el Perú es obligatorio realizar pruebas de audición a los recién nacidos, pero en la practica estas no se hacen. Así fue con Gael, él tampoco tuvo un examen auditivo al nacer. En este país, el sistema publico de salud es caótico pues el dinero que recibe del estado no alcanza ni para lo básico. Muchas veces los mismos pacientes deben llevar los materiales y medicinas para sus propias operaciones, exámenes, etc. Las citas son otorgadas con mucho retraso y obtener un diagnóstico es un reto. Por ello, recién al cumplir 1 año y 8 meses se supo que Gael tenía sordera total en ambos oídos.
 
Durante toda esta odisea, fue necesario que Patty dejara su trabajo de oficina para poder a cuidar a Gaelito, que ahora no solo necesitaba una dieta especial y medicinas sino cuidado mas especializado, terapias intensivas para poder comunicarse y mas exámenes y citas medicas para determinar si podría ser candidato a recibir un implante coclear, que es un aparato de dos partes, una que se inserta dentro del oído y otra que se usa afuera, como un audífono. Las buenas noticias son que sí, Gael es candidato para ser operado y que se le coloque un implante en cada oído. Las malas noticias son que para que la operación sea exitosa y que con mas terapia, él logre hablar de manera correcta, la operación debe ser hecha antes de que cumpla los 3 años, ósea en 4 meses. Lo mas terrible es que en los hospitales de ESSALUD, donde Gaelito se atiende, no hay implantes disponibles desde hace meses y no se sabe cuando los tendrán o si llegarán algún día. Sí, ese es el sistema publico de salud del Perú y lo tienen que sufrir todos aquellos que no tienen dinero ni oportunidades de tener un seguro privado.
 
Como Patty no es una persona que se rinda, decidió averiguar si ella podría comprar los implantes para Gael a alguna empresa que los tenga en el Perú. Acceder a ellas no es fácil y no existen planes de ayuda o financiamiento. Los implantes cuestan 23 mil dólares cada uno y esa no es una cantidad de dinero que Patty o su familia tengan, por ello te pido tu ayuda para al menos poder comprar uno de los implantes y que Gaelito empiece su terapia para poder oir y hablar lo antes posible.
 
Damos tantas cosas por sentado que a veces olvidamos la magia de las cosas simples, como que una madre y un hijo puedan escucharse y decirse: te amo. Imagínate que tu no pudieras hacerlo. Con tu ayuda, vamos a lograr que ese acto cotidiano, tan deseado por Patty y Gael, se haga realidad. Necesitamos reunir 30,000 dólares para comprar el implante y cubrir los costos de la operación.

Gracias.