Help Presnel get urgent cancer treatment in Haiti
Presnel Dieu is a father of five with a form of treatable cancer in a country with almost no medical services for cancer patients and only one working MRI machine for 11 million people. After many phone calls and doctor visits, FlyingHigh4Haiti has managed to obtain treatment for Presnel and, with your help, we are seeking to raise $5,000 to cure him.
Presnel was working for FlyingHigh4Haiti's ‘Kay Project’ to build a library and art center in Ile-a-Vache when his family contacted us to say he was sick and had a large tumor on his neck. The photographs they sent were horrifying as the tumor was growing fast and was already approaching the size of a football. The mass on his neck was also badly infected and bleeding.
When we sent Presnel for a medical exam the doctor reported he was severely anemic and needed an urgent blood transfusion. We feared the worst.
After numerous hospital and doctor visits, his condition is now stabilized and we have learned that he has a treatable squamous cell carcinoma. However, Haiti’s public health system offers little or no treatment for cancer, and even private patients struggle to find care.
A biopsy was performed at the Hospital Universitaire Mirabalais in order to reach a diagnosis of his cancer. Then a CT scan was performed to find out if his cancer had metastasized to other parts of the body.
Thankfully, FlyingHigh4Haiti was able to locate the one working MRI machine to conduct a CT scan needed to identify if the cancer had metastasized. Dr Joseph Bernard, a physician and medical director of the Innovating Health International (IHI) cancer program, examined him and was able to reach a diagnosis. While he says the tumor is locally advanced, no metastases were found. While he was very anemic and needed another round of blood transfusion, “overall his prognosis is good,” Dr Bernard reported.
Presnel is currently undergoing chemotherapy and the good news is that the mass on his neck is responding and has been reduced in size. When he completes his chemotherapy he needs to travel to the Dominican Republic for radiotherapy to fully eradicate the cancer. (Radiation treatment does not exist in Haiti). If he is lucky, Dr Bernard believes that Presnel can make a full recovery.
So far, FlyingHigh4Haiti has assumed all the cost for Presnel’s appointments, treatments and travel costs. (He being cared for by his sister in Law and by his wife in Port-Au-Prince.) The costs include numerous private transportation fares for hospital and doctor visits, a CT scan, three blood infusions, five chemotherapy sessions, and his dietary needs. We will also need to pay for his passport and visas documents to travel to the Dominican Republic, and his lodging while he undergoes radiotherapy.
Flying High is extremely grateful to all those who have provided us with advice and assistance to get this far, including the Partners for Health hospital in Mirebalais, Elizabeth Campa, Garry Jean, Jonas Haeger, Dr Bernard Joseph, Dr Gautier and Pilar Silverman.
If you prefer, you can also send donations direct to FlyingHigh4Haiti through our website.
FlyingHigh 4Haiti is a Florida-based public charity founded by Ines Lozano, that supports the community school, Ecole du Village, on Ile-a-Vache, and other local projects. All donations are tax deductible.
FlyingHigh4Haiti is committed to caring for Presnel, no matter what. But every dollar we spend to cure him is a drain on our efforts to help the broader community of Ile-a-Vache, of which Presnel is a valued member. So, by helping Presnel you will also be helping Ile-a-Vache.
If you want to learn more about cancer patients in Haiti read this Miami Herald Story.
