Ixbalan is 16 years old and currently lives with Lupus - causing many debilitating symptoms. When she has flare-ups, she feels intense joint pain, has nose bleeds, and feels very weak. She has had to stop studying because her symptoms are so bad, and has had to give up some of her favorite activities–such as making crafts and embroidering.
Ixbalan lives with her mother and siblings in a rural mountainous community in Guatemala in a one-room adobe house with a tin roof. She likes to spend her free time listening to music on the radio, eating melon and estofado (a pulled pork dish) and playing soccer when she feels up to it. She likes to attend mass with her family every Sunday.
Her mother supports the family by selling food, which only provides enough money to buy the basic necessities for her family. The medications that Ixbalan needs in order to be healthy are not only incredibly expensive, but also not available in the basic pharmacy in her community, making it difficult for her to get the treatment she needs to be a normal teenager.
This treatment, which costs $367, will provide Ixbalan with the medications and personalized in-home medical attention she needs to feel better and be able to attend school again. Her dream is to finish school, so she can get a job–which she is excited to do once her symptoms are under control. We are confident that Ixbalan can live a healthy and productive life once she receives this high-quality care.
“We were so worried,” Ixbalan’s mother shares. “At first she had a lot of strange symptoms. She was weak, we thought she was going to die. They told us she had cancer. We were all so scared. Thanks to God this isn’t cancer, but it is still a very strong sickness. We started to buy some medicines but with the little that I earn I cannot continue buying more because they are so expensive. Now she is not taking any medicine because we don’t have money and she is already starting to feel bad again. Thanks to you all for all of your help, for those who are going to donate so Ixbalan can get better.”