I have finally reached Ely. I could not get a hold of her from Wednesday until Sunday. We were desperate for news both about Presli and about the earthquake.
When I did finally get through, she told me that Presli was at the hospital and had slept through the whole thing! Meanwhile, she and her son were at the hotel in La Oroya on the highest floor she had ever been on – the ninth! Anyway, she felt the building go left then right then left then right, etc. She started to panic and her three year old son started to scream. She had never been in an earthquake that strong, nor ever been so high up. Understandably she was a bit freaked out. As her son later told the story, the man under the floor (the downstairs hotel “neighbor”) was a bad man because he was making their floor shake. Ah, kids!
Immediately, she got out of the hotel and went to check on Presli. He knew nothing and was peacefully lying there while the staff of the hospital was in emergency mode all around him.
So, back to Presli. He did finally receive his surgery over one week later than planned. In the meantime, he had a nice time at the clinic and bonded very strongly to Ely, telling her as he went under the anesthesia “I love you. I wish you were my own mom”. Of course, Ely was so moved that she was shooting tears (that’s how she described the moment). Presli’s surgery was about 3.5 hours long, from what I could make out on our crackly and tenuous cell-to-cell connection across the Pacific. There were a few other details that I could not make out, but she will be sending a full report in a few days.
Here is a letter to Dr. Capozzi from the lead doctor on the team (more to follow as it comes in): (FTSG is a full-thickness skin graft)
If you would like to make a direct contribution to Peru Luz de Esperanza, Ely’s volunteer program, please let us know and we will tell you how to wire them money through xoom.com for a very small fee (it’s like 7%). In fact, the fees may still be waived due to Peru’s crisis. For donations to aid in the relief efforts for the cities that were destroyed, go to Interbank.com or xoom.com and look for the trust account that they have established, or I can send you instructions that we received from the wire service. Remember, the dollar goes very far, so even $10 or $20 does make a huge difference.
On a lighter and happier note, the concert arrangements are just about 100% completed. We look forward to seeing you at the show on September 1. Hopefully we will have after-pictures of Presli to share with you!
Lisa and Sherrill Sturm
