RAMON ANTONIO

A few months ago we became acquainted with a very sick young man named Ramón Antonio. December 2008, Ramon was diagnosed with very high blood pressure which had gone undetected for some time and resulted in kidney and liver damage to his young body. The doctor recommended dialysis treatment immediately which came as a huge blow to this active 14 year old. Dialysis as we know it in Canada and the United States is administered through a machine that cleans the impurities from the blood in about 4 hours which patients like John’s dad undergoes 3 times a week. In the rural areas of the Dominican Republic these machines are not available so patients must use an external bag taped to their bodies for an 8 hour period, 4 times a week. On our last trip to Canada we secured some medicine that was donated by a doctor in Cambridge, Ont. for Ramon. Packed in ice and put in a cooler bag it cleared customs without a hitch. However, upon our return we were informed that Ramon was so sick that he was sent to the children’s hospital in Santiago shortly after we left. His mom Sarah, has stayed with him in Santiago for the past 3 months as his primary caregiver. Ramon’s father had abandoned their family so the other children have been staying with relatives this entire time without any resources to go to Santiago to see their brother.
Ramon loves to read and enjoys visitors so on our previous trip to Santiago we tried to visit him but unfortunately was receiving his treatment at the time. This week we returned once again and were blessed to visit with him and his mom Sarah. Each day is a struggle for them (she needs to supply for all his care while in the hospital) but the Lord is gracious and provides ways for their needs to be met. They will meet the doctor this week and hope that Ramon may be able to return home soon…because school starts on August 17th. Please pray that all will go well with his treatments and that their family may be reunited once again soon. They live in Sosua Abajo very near to us so we will update his condition when he returns home.
Since we were in Santiago again, we made a 2nd attempt to see the Centro Leon Museum and to our surprise discovered that there was free admission on Tuesdays. It was definitely worth returning to see even if we would have had to pay the 75 pesos entrance fee.