Anwar has passed on, some folks may want to make a contribution to his family.

http://www.belizeansunited.com/anwar/index.html


My fellow friends and family,

First of all, thank you for taking time to visit my website and reading my story.

The past few months of my life have been a roller coaster, as many of you may know. In December I finished my Master's Degree in Information Systems Management in Tampa, Florida, and I came back to Belize on January 5th, after having been offered a job in Belize City. I was very excited about starting my new career, and I had already made plans to move in with my Aunt in Belize City until I settled in at my job and could afford a place of my own.

January 28th started like any other day. I was visiting my girlfriend in Corozal Town, Belize, for the weekend. The night before, we had watched some movies, and ate some pizza. Nothing felt unusual, until I woke up the next morning. I started having pain in my abdominal area, and as it became more severe, I was taken to the hospital in Chetumal, Mexico, as it was closer than the hostpital in Belize City. I was admitted to the ER, and after an evaluation by the doctors, I was informed that I needed to have surgery for Frozen Intestines. Two years prior, in Tampa, I had surgery to remove my appendix1. There were some complications with that surgery, and I ended up having a second surgery which left a big scar on my stomach. However, I fully recovered from those surgeries in a relatively short time, and I expected that this would be the same. So I agreed to the surgery in Chetumal, and before I knew it, I was in surgery again for the third time in three years.

A sizeable chunk of my intestines was removed, and I spent one week in observation to see if the mended section of my intestine would heal and perform its job as needed. The doctors started to see some leakage, and for lack of proper equipment and expertise, they directed that I be transferred to Merida, Mexico, for "better" treatment.

In Merida I subsequently had 5 surgeries and lost a lot of blood, and developed Fistulas in my small intestine each time. Fistulas are holes created by tension or misplacement of one's organs. So basically my small intestines had become very fragile, so that when there is tension on one portion of it, it causes another portion to tear. This causes my intestines to leak, and to bleed, and each time another surgery is needed to try to stop the leakage.

After three months, and 6 surgeries, there was no more that could be done in Mexico, and the decision was made to transfer me to the hospital in Belize. So on April 23rd, I was transferred by ambulance from Merida to Belize City, Belize. The trip was seven hours long and caused pain and irritation to my stomach and small intestine area. I was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at the Karl Huesner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) in Belize City as soon as I arrived. On April 24th, my uncle, Dr. Hector DePaz, who is a surgeon, flew in from New York to evaluate my condition and see what else could be done. He, along with Dr. Gregorio Pott, Dr. Fernando Cuellar, my uncle, and Dr. Nerida DePaz, my aunt, performed a 7th surgery on me to try to repair the fistulae and stop the leakage. Needless to say, all these surgeries have taken a quite a toll on me, and I've lost a tremendous amount of weight, going from about 135lbs to 82lbs. After about a month in the ICU at KHMH, I was released and able to go home for the first time since the first surgery in January.

It has now been 7 months and counting. The reason for this site is to keep my family and friends updated on my condition, and to solicit assistance and raise some funds so that I may seek better treatment for my stomach and small intestines. Each day that I was in Merida, the doctors couldn't touch me unless the bill was paid in advance. So every morning someone was there to collect, and my family was barely able to pool money together to pay the bill each day. Somehow, with the help of my extended family members, they managed to settle the bill each time, and now we've hit a wall financially, having already spent over $125,000 US.

Many people have helped me, from donating money, to donating blood, and many are still helping me through this difficult phase of my life. I appreciate all the help I've been given, and I can't thank those people enough. If you can find it in your heart to extend some assistance to my cause, please do so and help me recover. I would appreciate any assistance I can get. You may use the paypal button on the "Donations" page to make a donation with your credit card, or you can make a direct deposit into my bank accounts in Tampa, Florida, or in Belize. Donate a dollar or two if you can. Every dollar counts and I will be forever grateful to you for this.

God Bless!
-Anwar