An otherwise healthy and normal young mother is paralyzed - it's a terrible misfortune, but Yesenia Orellano's story is also interesting because she doesn't know what happened to her and neither do a number of doctors. Today the 24 year old who is confined to her bed and unable to take care of her children shared her heartrending story with 7NEWS. Keith Swift reports from San Martin Village in the greater Belmopan Area.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Meet Yesenia Orellano. Her hands don't do what she tells them to, her feet hang there helplessly, and no matter how hard she thinks of moving them, they just hang there motionless, she can barely keep her head up, and her speech is impaired.
Yesenia Orellano,
[Speaking Slowly] "I can't do nothing. If my husband didn't help me, I wouldn't be able to do anything. I can't get up or do nothing. My hands, only one I can move. My head feels funny, like heavy. My head feels like its splitting...like my head is split. My legs from waist down I can't stay sitting down long. The most I can sit is one hour because I get pain." {Exhaling.]
Yesenia Orellano wasn't born this helpless and an accident didn't leave her this way. This is Yesenia 7 years ago holding her first newborn son Alex. 7 years later the now 24-year-old mother of 3 doesn't know what happened to her. All she knows is what happened about a year ago.
Yesenia Orellano,
"One year ago this happened to me. I am getting better for one thing but my head is hurting me bad."
Yesenia's condition continues to regress and doctors are puzzled. This is the result of a CAT scan on her lower back performed last year. Doctors concluded that there was no evidence of any problem and that according to the CAT scan - Yesenia was "normal." And there is the result of an MRI taken in Guatemala which was inconclusive. The examiner noted that there was sign of "myelitis." A more detailed and costly MRI is needed to confirm it.
And until she gets that, she now spends her days laid-up in home looking up at the pictures of her 3 children. And because of her condition this picture is the only reminder of her youngest child - 2 year old Edgar who now lives at a children's home.
Yesenia Orellano,
"Everything I miss. Its rough because I used to do all of my things and right now I can't do nothing."
Yesenia can't do anything and so her husband Daniel Orellano has to do everything. He had to quit his job and now devotes fulltime to taking of his wife and her needs.
Daniel Orellano,
"Me have to do everything for she. I have to bathe her, put her to lie down, and move her around. The hardest part is I can't work. I have to take care of her and I have to take care of the kids, that's why I can't go out and look for a job. Only like maybe a part-time like day's work I could do it but other than that I can't do nothing else. We are asking for an MRI. Maybe with the MRI we can find out exactly what she has. I don't know if anyone can help us. Any help, it doesn't matter. Help is help and we just need an MRI so that we could see exactly what is happening with her."
And until she gets the medical attention she needs Yesenia will remain at home and hopeful.
Yesenia Orellano,
"I hope to get better. The doctors they say that they are not what it is but they will find out. I just pray to God mek God help me and mek ih put somebody to help me."
And as she stares ahead into the grim vista of her own future between the rigid confines of the walls that define her present reality - hope is really all she can have.
A comprehensive MRI to determine what exactly is wrong with Yesenia will cost around 15,000 quetzales which is about $5,000 Belize dollars. The family doesn't have that money. If you can assist you can contact the family at 600-3196 or 600-5359. We should note that the condition "myelitis" mentioned in the story is a rare neurological disorder which affects the central nervous system.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited for the internet by Keith Swift
