Well, I leave tomorrow at 6:45 AM from the airport. I got the cheapest one way ticket I could find, it was around $620, I recommend using www.farecast.com it's a really great place to get cheap tickets. I think that I've got pretty much everything I need, two suitcases already packed full, and I think a couple pounds overweight. I won't arrive in Lima until 10:50 PM, where I'll be meeting another volunteer who is going to stay for the summer and teach English in the school. The next morning I'll start nice and early again, I have a meeting across Lima at 8:00 am to start my residency paperwork. After that I'm heading over to MIMDES (who is the Peruvian version of Division of Family Services) where I'll talk to them about what steps that we can do to speed up foreign adoptions through our organization, so getting straight to work, haha.
As far as this blog goes, I hope that you will continue to keep up with my journey. I would also like to add that I encourage you to leave comments or questions about anything you want. I will try and respond to all the ones that need to be responded to either just by posting back here, or through e-mail if you would like. I will also be posting an HTML spread sheet that you will be able to find in the links section to the right, in that spreadsheet I plan to document all of my expenses. I am doing this because I have had some very kind people that felt that God was calling them to support me even though I was not actively seeking support (for right now anyway). I feel that this expense sheet is something that will hold me accountable to be a good steward of God's money.
Some ways to get a hold of me.
Email: kevin.guier@gmail.com
skype: kevinguier
Address to send mail to.
Kevin Guier
Las Palmeras MZ "O" Lote 15
Pacasmayo, La Libertad, Peru
Once I get a structured schedule I will post times that work the best for skype chats. Feel free to try and give me a ring anytime you see me on it.
I'll be adding a Peruvian telephone number as soon as I buy a cell phone down there(if you feel the need to contact me immediately).
Monday, June 1, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Answered Prayers
Short and sweet version, Our prayers were answered, Thank you everyone for your prayers!
Long version.
Gerson has always had something wrong with his legs. It started when he was little. He was always the first one to get tired or have pains. They had taken him to a couple doctors in the past and they chalked it up to "malnutrition as a baby". After Avis decided that wasn't a good enough explanation she took him to the Mercy Ship when it was in Peru. The Mercy ship is a boat filled with doctors from all over the world and the most advanced medical equipment that travels around to different areas of need. None of the doctors on that ship new what was wrong with him either and they said they couldn't help. So, since the mercy ship couldn't do anything and it didn't appear that his condition was worsening they decided that for right then that was as good as answer as they were going to get.
However, over the past 6 months Gerson has been having increased pains and trouble walking. They took him to the doctor again, who again said "I don't know." So they took him to a specialist. This specialist took some x-rays and said that it wasn't anything to do with the bones. So they took him to another specialist who then gave some bad news. The doctor said Gerson had some sort of muscular disease, but they still didn't know exactly.
When I found this out, I went into over drive. I started researching every muscular disease under the sun. We'll after 3 or 4 days of research is when it hit me. Gerson had Muscular Dystrophy. He had EVERY single symptom. EVERY single one. The main one being his lack of lower body coordination, walking mannerisms, and his worsening pain and easy fatigue. But muscular dystrophy also explained why he would get worse respiratory infections than other kids. It also explained why he has trouble in school, lower levels of distrophin in the blood stream slows memorization. After realizing this is when I kind of freaked out. I came to the conclusion that everything matches up so perfectly that this must be what he has.
I still needed to know for certain one thing. Which type it was. So I asked Maribel the head house mom to start calling around and finding out where she can get the proper blood, MRI, and Genetic tests done to determine which type of dystrophy he had... because there are several and they all very greatly in the severity. So she finally found another specialist who also had all the proper resources to conduct all the testings.
He did the MRI, and was amazed to find that all of Gersons muscles and nervous system tissue was perfectly healthy. The blood tests came back today as well...they showed that he had perfectly normal levels of everything.
After further examination of the MRI the specialist found that Gersons ligaments in his legs are out of balance and appear to be growing at different rates. Something that can be fixed as easily as wearing corrective shoes and braces for awhile. As for the other symptoms that didn't have to do with his legs, the doctor surmised that a few of them could be due to Gerson's bad battle with TB a couple years back, and the others well, the doctor thinks Gerson might have been playing tired to get more attention (not sure if I completely buy that one...but possible I guess).
So Thank God for answered prayers. Gerson is going to be alright.
Long version.
Gerson has always had something wrong with his legs. It started when he was little. He was always the first one to get tired or have pains. They had taken him to a couple doctors in the past and they chalked it up to "malnutrition as a baby". After Avis decided that wasn't a good enough explanation she took him to the Mercy Ship when it was in Peru. The Mercy ship is a boat filled with doctors from all over the world and the most advanced medical equipment that travels around to different areas of need. None of the doctors on that ship new what was wrong with him either and they said they couldn't help. So, since the mercy ship couldn't do anything and it didn't appear that his condition was worsening they decided that for right then that was as good as answer as they were going to get.
However, over the past 6 months Gerson has been having increased pains and trouble walking. They took him to the doctor again, who again said "I don't know." So they took him to a specialist. This specialist took some x-rays and said that it wasn't anything to do with the bones. So they took him to another specialist who then gave some bad news. The doctor said Gerson had some sort of muscular disease, but they still didn't know exactly.
When I found this out, I went into over drive. I started researching every muscular disease under the sun. We'll after 3 or 4 days of research is when it hit me. Gerson had Muscular Dystrophy. He had EVERY single symptom. EVERY single one. The main one being his lack of lower body coordination, walking mannerisms, and his worsening pain and easy fatigue. But muscular dystrophy also explained why he would get worse respiratory infections than other kids. It also explained why he has trouble in school, lower levels of distrophin in the blood stream slows memorization. After realizing this is when I kind of freaked out. I came to the conclusion that everything matches up so perfectly that this must be what he has.
I still needed to know for certain one thing. Which type it was. So I asked Maribel the head house mom to start calling around and finding out where she can get the proper blood, MRI, and Genetic tests done to determine which type of dystrophy he had... because there are several and they all very greatly in the severity. So she finally found another specialist who also had all the proper resources to conduct all the testings.
He did the MRI, and was amazed to find that all of Gersons muscles and nervous system tissue was perfectly healthy. The blood tests came back today as well...they showed that he had perfectly normal levels of everything.
After further examination of the MRI the specialist found that Gersons ligaments in his legs are out of balance and appear to be growing at different rates. Something that can be fixed as easily as wearing corrective shoes and braces for awhile. As for the other symptoms that didn't have to do with his legs, the doctor surmised that a few of them could be due to Gerson's bad battle with TB a couple years back, and the others well, the doctor thinks Gerson might have been playing tired to get more attention (not sure if I completely buy that one...but possible I guess).
So Thank God for answered prayers. Gerson is going to be alright.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Pray for Gerson
Pray for Gerson. I think that I have discovered some very somber news about his health. I am asking that you all pray for him and the difficulties that will be coming his way. I would not like to jump the gun on any conclusions so I won't disclose any specifics right now.
In case you forget here is Gerson, he just turned 11 in December.
In case you forget here is Gerson, he just turned 11 in December.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
New blog site for Go Ye
If you would like to keep up with happenings in Pacasmayo then the new blog site is www.goye-ministries.com I will continue to blog about my personal experiences on this site while I am in Peru, but this other site is more for ministry wide news. I will be keeping that site updated hopefully once a week, even while I am not there.
Kevin
Kevin
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