Philippine Self-Help Foundation
Lourdes received a medical grant for her chronic sinusitis..
Lourdes when I visited her home on 2nd of March.
On the evening of 1st of March, my sister Mary Jean told me about a certain Lourdes Guantero, a classmate of her daughter’s in grade six. During a school assembly, Catalina, Lourdes mother, had spoken about her daughter who had been suffering from a recurring fever for over a month and absent from school. On the following day, I (Analyn) went to visit Lourdes in her home in Dipatlong, a neighbouring barangay from mine, and saw for myself the worrying situation. She had a high fever and a swollen face. She was also very malnourished and she could barely walk without assistance.
A day after Lourdes was admitted to the hospital and the swelling on her face gets better.
Seeing the urgency, I took Lourdes to a pediatric clinic that same day for a proper check-up. Lourdes was diagnosed with chronic sinusitis and the swelling indicated a bacterial infection which had spread to her eyes. As per the advice of the doctor, Lourdes needed to be admitted to the hospital immediately and given intravenous antibiotics to prevent the infection from affecting her eyes especially as Lourdes had been complaining of blurry vision. She also needed to have an MRI to check that the infection had not developed into a meningitis which can be life threatening. Thanks to the medical grant which PSHF has extended as it covered her medical expenses as well as the daily food expenses for Catalina and Lourdes while she is hospitalised. Catalina is a single parent to Lourdes and her elder sister Leah Mae (13). She earns a living from doing laundry and she has no income being the one to stay in the hospital with Lourdes.
Lourdes with mother Catalina on her graduation day.
Postcript:
On 22nd of March, Lourdes was discharged from the hospital and happily was able to attend her elementary graduation on the 30th with her mother. She had a follow-up check-up in March 31 and the doctor required her to undergo endoscopy because there is still swelling on her nose. The procedure shown a whitish lesion in Lourdes’ right nasal cavity. She was given further medications and is requested to have a CT-scan to rule out if the lesion is a tumor. I have asked for an additional grant so that Lourdes will be able to buy her medicines and to undergo for the said procedure. The CT-scan is scheduled later this month and we earnestly hope the result is not serious.