Francisco Carranza

End Date: Jan 1, 2015 12:00 AM

In March, the Patient Referral team was referred to visit a man with a heart condition. The team visited Francisco and he is in grave need of a pacemaker. Francisco currently has Chagas disease.

Chagas disease is a tropical parasitic disease that is spread by a bug called, Triatominae, or kissing bugs. The symptoms of this disease change throughout the course of infection. There are two phases of Chagas: the acute phase and the chronic phase. The acute phase lasts for the first weeks to month of infection and initial signs are similar to symptoms of the flu and most people do not get checked for Chagas because they believe they have the flu. The chronic phase of Chagas may stay silent for decades and later presents with cardiac or intestinal complications. Cardiac complications can include an enlarged heart, heart failure, altered heart rate or rhythm, and cardiac arrest.

Due to Francisco\'s infection of Chagas years ago, he has started to have cardiac complications. The patient referral team has confirmed Francisco\'s need for a pacemaker.

Francisco lives with his wife in a community high up in the mountains called Palo Verde. Francisco has 12 children, 7 girls and 5 boys. Before his heart condition, he used to work in the fields harvesting beans and coffee. Due to his heart condition, he is unable to work because it puts him in grave danger. His children try to support him and his wife by providing them with food.

The patient referral team is fundraising to get Francisco a pacemaker so that he can have a surgery to stabilize his heart condition. Please help us help him!

If you would like to know more about this case or want to get further involved, please contact Grace Goryoka at grace.goryoka@globalbrigades.org