Donate for Single Guatemalan Grandmother's Heart Treatment

Noelia Lopez lives in Xela, Guatemal and has been an online Spanish teacher and supportive presence to many medical professionals, lawyers, and medical students (including myself) for many years. She has enabled me and many others to better serve our Spanish-speaking patients and community members in their native language. She has uniquely provided encouragement and a nurturing presence during very difficult periods in her students' lives throughout medical/law school, residency, and early careers.

In her personal life when she is not teaching Skype Spanish lessons, she is a hardworking single mother and dedicated grandmother of two precious girls, ages 4 months and seven years old, whom she provides childcare for daily. I recently spent a month in Guatemala living in her home. I quickly noticed her daily shortness of breath, cough, and significant fatigue. I read over her echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) findings from many months ago and was shocked to see that she had severe four-chamber dilated cardiomyopathy with pulmonary hypertension (in other words, her heart walls are dilated and weakened, and the blood pressure in her lungs is abnormally high, which helps explain the symptoms I was seeing). I asked why she had still not followed up with a cardiologist or pulmonologist, and she explained how private specialist care in Guatemala is a luxury and very expensive since having health insurance is not common unless you are a government employee. Additionally, she has been prioritizing her finances to take her grandchildren to the pediatrician (which is also a private, out-of-pocket expense) as her 7-year-old granddaughter suffers from severe asthma and her 4-month-old granddaughter has frequent well-baby checkups.

She is finally planning to follow up with cardiology in Guatemala City on November 26th to see what treatment options are available for her. She may be able to have some discounted medical care with the help of social work but will likely still have significant out-of-pocket costs. She has had a difficult road in life and has still managed to become an invested educator who truly cares not only for her students' language learning but also their personal growth. Her dedication to providing a better life for her family has been inspiring, and she is well overdue for the opportunity to prioritize her own health and well-being. I would greatly appreciate your support through donation and prayer for her to get the treatment she deserves! Thank you so much.

Also if you are interested in online Spanish lessons at any starting levels, please reach message me for more information and for her contact information.