By Sarah Martin | Development Coordinator
Thank you for your continued support of PIH’s University Hospital!
The University Hospital at Mirebalais continues to be one of the only places in Haiti where patients have access to certain types of cancer care. We are pleased to share with you the following story from Haiti- about a mother named Martha, who continues to be treated for cancer with the help of University Hospital:
Like many cancer survivors, the 25-year-old mother Martha has been through a long and painful journey. She was sick for many months with CML, a rare form of blood cancer for which treatment was not available in Haiti.
She had been focused on her illness for so long that it was hard to envision a healthy life. It’s a common tale among patients in Haiti, where quality health care is rare, and a cancer diagnosis is typically a death sentence.
The medication that Martha needed wasn’t available in Haiti, but PIH advocated on her behalf and finally, after 12 months, negotiated a regular supplier of the necessary drug.
Although she doesn’t come to University Hospital for chemotherapy, she will depend on its pharmacy for the rest of her life. She visits every three months to pick up her supply of Imatinib.
Martha has now been on her medication for 13 years, and her only break was the nine months she was pregnant with her son Jamesly to ensure his safe development. She hasn’t noted any side effects. As long as she takes her daily pill on a full stomach, she feels fine.
There is no doubt in her mind that the medication keeps her alive.
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