Jose: My cool father in love fighting the battle of his life
Hi, my name is Adi and I live in Kingston, Tasmania with my beautiful wife Nataly who hails from Lima, Peru. Nataly and I have been married 12+ plus years and have known each other since late 2007. I visited Peru in May 2008 and have had a wonderful relationship with my father in-"love" (as I don't like the phrase parents-in-law) - Jose (based in Lima, Peru).
Jose and Ayde (his wife) visited us in Tassie as recently as in April 2022, and he has been a very fit and healthy man hiking up Mt. Murchison in the West, kunanyi, Marion's Lookout in Cradle Mountain, the Hazards Loop Trail and so many more. He had even taken up tennis a few months ago at the ripe old age of 62 years. We have shared so many jokes and memories over the years and unfortunately in March this year we had news that he has a brain tumour. This came as a very rude shock to all of us and watching my Peruvian dad become a shadow of himself has also hit me hard.
Jose was just recovering from having his prostate removed and that followed serious convulsions at home, at which time it was discovered via a CT Scan he had a brain tumour. A few weeks later, a MRI revealed that he has a Stage 4 Glioblastoma, which is possibly the worst news anyone can receive as life expectancy is low and even if surgically removed it will regrow. Jose was admitted to the Rebagliati Hospital in Lima where he was treated from early March till April 16, 2024, when they discharged him. At first, they were hesitant to operate due to the risk of quality of life, but a neurosurgeon took on the challenge and managed to remove 70% of the tumour.
Unfortunately, they couldn't remove the entire tumour due to the location and the high risk to quality of life. Post surgery, Jose faced a lot of issues in the hospital with horrible bed sores, partial paralysis (he couldn't move the left side of his body) and stomach issues.
Jose is now home in the care of his immediate family and is showing some signs of regaining movement in his left side due to us pushing him to do physiotherapy, etc. The post surgical care is critical to him regaining some sort of quality of life for the remaining time he has with us and whilst our family have enough funds for a few months, it is very expensive to get professional assistance at home in Peru. With your kindness, funds would be used for :
1. Physiotherapy - We have a physio coming home who specialises in neurological recovery.
2. Day + Night time nurse - We have 1-day time and 1-night time nurse who help to move him from the bed into wheel chairs, in and around the house, bathe, etc. essentially they are of solid assistance throughout.
3. Medicines, Medical Devices and other related pharmacy provisions - All other medical assistance which the public health system doesn't cover.
My wife Nataly had a fantastic full time job which she recently started in Hobart but had to leave behind due to the current situation with her dad. Her brother is in between jobs and is actively looking for one especially due to the current situation and her mother's restaurant closed due to the pandemic in 2020 and she is now caring for Jose.
At this stage, we don't know how long he has with us. Jose's hospital treatment was fortunately covered by the public health insurance but Peru is quite expensive for pharmacy provisions including simple flu + cold medication, bandages, etc. Due to his limited mobility, he cannot leave the house for any therapy etc. and he requires professional care 24 x 7.
I am the sole earning member of my family-in-love and am looking to help them go through this absolutely horrific period with as little to think about as possible and reduce the financial hardship they are very soon going to face.
I am currently in Lima and took off 6 weeks to be with Jose and the family and am scheduled to return to work back in Hobart in the 2nd week of May. Any assistance would be highly appreciated. Of course, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer on my phone when I am back in Australia and I can be reached on 0466 092 005.