Save Luchi's life

This fundraiser is for my friends, Sergio and Fabiana Burdolini's 8 years old daughter, María Luciana Burdolini Pirán. Fabiana tells the story:

It all started in December 2019 when they called us from my youngest daughter's school, because she complained of a strong headache. They called us twice, but when we arrived to see her, she was fine. It was the end of the year so we thought it was fatigue, added to the heat of the last days of school.

We started the year 2020 without any news, or any pain complain from my daughter. However, at the beginning of the Pandemic (March 2020), she began to have strong headaches accompanied by hallucinations of giant and monstrous animals and hear very loud sounds that generated panic while they lasted, accompanied with tachycardia, mydriasis (dilation of the pupil) and involuntary contraction of the hair erector muscles (pilomotor reflex). These episodes were repeated several times a day, so we took her to be evaluated by a neurologist. She was diagnosed with Benign Focal Epilepsy, but to finalize the diagnosis, a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MRI) had to be performed. Considering the situation of the country, immersed in a pandemic, the treating doctor decided to wait until 2021, to request the MRI, reducing the risk of contagion of the prevailing virus.

This is how, after a long wait, my daughter was able to access the study at the Children's Hospital “Dr. José Renán Esquivel”. We had to wait months for an appointment, and even then it had to be postponed once more because the MRI was broken. This November, they finally did the study. According to the images the diagnosis was the following: Secondary Epilepsy due to a Brain Tumor with a diameter of 5 cm in the frontal lobe. Based on these results, the doctor decided to refer the girl to the “Prof. Dr. Juan P. Garrahan” Hospital of the Argentine Republic, for treatment of the tumor mass, excision, biopsy and subsequent treatment according to the biopsy results. According to Dr. Abadía Herrera's indication, the transfer must be URGENT and based on that need, he contacted Dr. Juan Pociecha and Dr. Fernando Contreras, both pediatric neurosurgeons, at the Garrahan Hospital , to expedite the reception and immediate attention to our arrival in Buenos Aires.

My home is made up of my husband, myself, and 5 children. We all live in Panama, except for my eldest daughter who is finishing her university studies in Argentina. I am a Bachelor of Nutrition and a Doctor of Health Sciences (PhD), I am a university professor, but due to immigration status I still do not have a work permit and therefore I cannot practice in the country, for the moment, but I work as a teacher and researcher ad honorem at the University of Panama. Due to this, the only family income is that of my husband.

During the past year my husband lost his job, but currently he recovered it and is the breadwinner with an income of 1200 U $ S without insurance and tax discounts, which has placed us in a situation of economic and social risk, due to lack of house, minimal service expenses, transportation, education, and food.

Based on the above, we need support to be able to take our little girl to Argentina so she can receive her treatment. The expenses include transportation and medical expenses and also for living in Buenos Aires (my daughter and I) during the time needed for the surgery and treatment. Any cooperation, even a small one, will have a great effect in our efforts to help our Luchi to be treated, heal and recover. We will always be very grateful for your generous support! God Bless You!