tacK iN & OuT: Your Trash CAN Help 4 Lives

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Your Trash CAN Help 4 Lives

February 17, 2008

Greetings,

My family and I are appealing to your good heart to help us in our time of dire need. I, my two brothers and sister, for reasons that defy medical explanation have all been diagnosed with a very rare genetic disease called Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2). NF2 is characterized by the development of non-cancerous tumors in the region of the cranial nerve VIII, which is the auditory-vestibular nerve that transmits sensory information from the inner ear to the brain. Depending on the location, the tumors can affect control, balance, speech, eye movements, facial sensations and most importantly, hearing. Although there is no cure for NF2, the tumors can be surgically removed to stop them from further affecting our health.

Currently, I have already lost my hearing on my left ear and my right ear has moderate hearing loss. It also affected my balance, which is the reason people constantly think of me as a clumsy person and there are times when I would feel very dizzy. My brother, Niccolo, after undergoing surgery has lost his hearing on his right ear and the same thing may also happen to his left ear. My sister Marie had to undergo an operation on her spinal column, when tumors grew there, to prevent her from being paraplegic. Her left extremities were affected are now not as strong as they were before.

In most cases, NF2 only occur unilaterally. However, it may also occur bilaterally, which is what happened in our case. And though NF2 is transferred genetically, for four children of the same parents to all inherit the disease is unheard of. Our mother, from whose side we inherited NF2, had already passed away at the age of 27, two months after giving birth to my youngest brother, Lyndon. At the time of our mom’s death, our dad sunk into depression. He couldn’t work anymore.

We are now under the care of our grandparents who have no financial means to meet the medical costs of the operations and MRI, which we have to undergo every six months. For this reason, we are appealing to you to donate broken and unrepairable appliances that are ready to be disposed of to us. My grandparents will collect the copper in them and then sell it to junk shops to raise money for the treatments. The money will be deposited to our bank account.

Please accept our heartfelt gratitude and May God greatly enrich you in all your endeavors. Kindly direct all donations to Linda Remigio. Residence phone # 8476820. Cellphone # 09152008242. #10 Mapua St., Phase 4, Pacita 1, San Pedro, Laguna

Nico, Marie, Ashley and Lyndon Remigio