Letter from the father of Alfredo Quihuis

 

 

Dear friends.

I’m Daniel Quihuis, Alfredo’s father.  This is the story of my son.

On January 17, 1996 my son Alfredo was born, I was very happy.   It was an afternoon when the doctor called me and explained my son’s problem.   I wanted the earth to sallow me, it was a very difficult time for me.  My wife didn’t know about the problem, the doctor didn’t wanted her to know yet.  I was going through the worst moment of my life.  My wife wanted to see the baby and between the doctor, the nurses and myself made some excuses to keep the baby away from her.  My father-in-law and my brother-in-law were pushing me to talk with my wife, and I didn’t wanted to tell her, Why?  Because it was a problem so big and so difficult to explain to my wife that I didn’t know where to start.  Just imagine, a baby without his lip, without his palate, how could I explain her that.  Just tell her…”you know what my love?   We have a problem and so on”…! Impossible! 

 

The doctor talked to me again.  He introduced me to a Pediatric doctor, he explained my again about the problem and promised me to talk to my wife.  The next day he came to talk to my wife in front of my mother-in-law, my brother-in-law and myself.  It was very difficult for me to be in front of her and to talk to her specially when she did ask me earlier that whose lips did the baby had.  Just imagine how hard it was for me.  When the doctor explained her the problem, her pain was so big that she wanted to die.  They wanted to blame it on me because I smoke a lot.  They wanted to blame it on me for everything.  My wife’s family are Christians and I am not.  One person even said that the baby was going to die because I was not Christian.  I believe in God.  But God is not so cruel to permit this things to happen.  Also one of my sisters-in-law was telling my wife to accept the facts, it was so easy for her to say that, of course, the problem wasn’t hers or anybody else, only mine and my wife’s.

 

Sometime later my sister-in-law heard her sister talk about COAD and we searched for a way to get in contact with you, and thank God we found you. You have no idea of what we have gone through, but everything was worthed.  Later my wife met another couple that had a baby with the same problem and we also send them to you their son’s name is Ruben.  And on the same token they found and sent you another girl with the same problem.  Thanks to all your care they all had their surgeries and their lives and ours were changed completely.  Thank God and all of you, and if we can help you in any way you can count on us.  Thanks a lot and we are very thankful.