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Written by Louise Clarke
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Thursday, 12 November 2009 |
Lena and John at the recent fundraising Hog Roast
Lena Closes Appeal after SIP Card is Issued
In August, Round Town News reported on the plight of Lena Bell, who had just discovered that she had an aggressive form of cancer and needed life saving treatment but due to problems with the Spanish authorities, was unable to get the care she needed on the Spanish health service, despite qualifying for it. Although Lena is married to John, who is British, she is Indonesian born and that has made getting her residency very difficult and complicated. Thanks to the article in RTN, Lena’s story was highlighted to British Vice Consul, Liz Bell and Martyn Standing, the head of the Department of Works and Pensions in Alicante.
Although, Lena couldn’t be declared a British citizen, both Liz and Martyn did all they could to persuade the Spanish authorities to speed up the process of obtaining Lena’s residency certificate so that she could become a legal dependant of John and therefore entitled to get cancer treatment on the Spanish national health service. Two weeks ago, the couple got the news that they were waiting for and thanks to the efforts of friend, nurse and translator Cathrin, who the couple have called ‘an absolute Godsend’ Lena’s SIP card was issued. John told RTN: “Martyn and Liz tried everything they could to help us and although they couldn’t help us directly in the end, they put us on the right track and for that we are eternally grateful.”
Support
Meanwhile, Cathrin liaised with all the relevant authorities on the couple’s behalf and even went to the oncology department in Torrevieja Hospital to speak directly to the oncologist about Lena’s case. Armed with Lena’s SIP card, she arranged an appointment with him for Lena the next day. The oncologist gave her blood tests and the day after sent her for a CAT scan in Benidorm. She had an appointment with the oncologist the following day but due to Lena’s blood count being exceptionally low he gave her tablets to raise her blood count and postponed the first session of chemotherapy on the health service until the following week when her blood count had returned to normal.
Lena has now had that first bout of treatment and has asked that the appeal account be closed. She and John would like to thank everyone who supported the appeal and helped to raise the 3718.77€ which has gone towards the 20,000€ bill for treatment that the couple had to pay for at the private San Jaime hospital. John said: “The recent hog roast raised over 1300€ for the appeal and we would like to thank Linda and Trevor from Animal Aid for arranging the acts that appeared at the event for free.” Stevie Spit, Andrea and Sean Prescott and Gemma Jones were the acts who Linda and Trevor had asked to perform at the hog roast and they, along with the barbershop quartet Q4, entertained the many people who attended.
Upbeat
Lena is indebted to friends Doreen and Carol, who started the appeal and who contributed massively to the fundraising efforts. John said: “Without the help of the DWP, Liz at the Consulate, Cathrin and the Spanish health authority, as well as RTN for highlighting her plight, Lena would be facing an uncertain future. We would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for helping, supporting and donating money towards the treatment that has already been carried out.”
The treatment regime that Lena faces at Torrevieja Hospital will be slightly different than the one planned by the neighbouring private hospital but the oncologist at Torrevieja Hospital is very optimistic about her recovery. He will give her some extra chemotherapy and depending on how she responds they will reassess what further treatment is necessary for her recovery.
John added: “The oncologist said that he is very positive for her treatment and said that he will try to cure her no matter what.” In the meantime, Lena has her ups and downs and is having trouble sleeping. She said: “I have no taste and cannot eat, so I feel a bit like rubbish.” Surprisingly Lena is very upbeat despite feeling lousy and John and Doreen both say ‘she is a trooper’. Doreen said: “She never moans and only felt bad when she lost all her hair.” Thanks to the girls at Capital Hair and Beauty in Torrevieja, Lena now has a beautiful wig which was only 20 euros but it put a smile on her face and Doreen said it ‘made her feel like a woman again.’ Round Town News would like to wish Lena a very speedy recovery and we will keep readers posted on her progress.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 December 2009 )
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