The Friends of Pediatrics are once again sending a child away for surgery. But this time coordinating the trip took several weeks instead of days due to Hurricane Mitch and other problems, but the little boy and his mom are on their way tonight. News Five was invited to meet the latest patient and his mother who has had more than her share of difficulties to make this day possible.

Four year old Neri Orellano looks like any normal young boy his age, but for the past four months Orellano has been having a difficult time walking due to a four inch tumor that’s been growing in the lower part of his spinal cord. According to his mother Maria Elena Vasquez, who spoke with us through the help of an interpreter, Dr. Nazaria Correa from K.H.M.H., it was in August that she first noticed something was wrong with her son.

Maria Elena Vasquez, Mother

“I noticed he had problems urinating and that his testicles got hard and she had trouble walking; he had to hold his back.”

Today, thanks to Friends of Pediatrics little Orellano left the country this afternoon for Wayne Memorial Hospital in North Carolina. There he will undergo surgery to remove the tumor. Accompanying the young patient and his mother is Ruth Pandy, a practical nurse at K.H.M.H.

Ruth Pandy, Practical Nurse, K.H.M.H.

“My role will be just to basically be a companion to them and should in case anything goes wrong, there to assist.

Well, we need to gain more experience and then you know if we liaise with the hospital there, we would know how to help prepare our patients when they go over there.”

Vasquez, who shed tears of joy, said she can’t believe that finally her son will be getting the help he desperately needs. Vasquez, as we found out, did not only have the emotional stress of watching her son in pain, but there were many obstacles she encountered along the way that delayed the trip for almost one month.

Maria Elena Vasquez

“At the beginning my husband was in prison; I had a job but I had to quit the job to tend to my baby. I have been without money and I had my papers ready; I had all my papers ready. It was about a month ago that they stole my purse with all my papers.”

If left untreated, Orellano would eventually be left paralyzed.

While Nurse Pandy will return to Belize on Monday, Orellano will remain in the States with his mother until doctors say he can return. Jacqueline Woods for News Five.

The airline tickets for Neri and his mom were supplied by Careforce of Texas and Richard Haas of IMMARBE. Friends of Pediatrics says it is also pleased to report that the doctors of Wayne Memorial in North Carolina have established the Belize Humanitarian Group to offer their services and medical equipment to selected patients in Belize. The Friends of Pediatrics has also engaged cartoonist Lloyd Griffith popularly known as ?Ras Head? to paint the children’s playroom at the Karl Heusner Memorial. Paint and supplies are being provided by Brothers Habet.