ELIZABETH VALDEZ

Sick and weak, mom fears for children’s future

UPDATE Feb. 5, 2010

Elizabeth and Luis Valdez of Lake Worth, parents of four children, had been struggling financially and emotionally since Elizabeth underwent surgery to remove her kidney and gall bladder last year.

The community’s donations will allow the family to catch up on bills and purchase a used car, says Barbara Vilaseca, executive director of The Caridad Center in Boynton Beach, the agency that nominated the Valdez family.

“She is extremely grateful and happy,” says Vilaseca. “She has been through hell and now she is receiving these wonderful blessings.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

By CARLOS FRÍAS
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Halfway down a dimly lit street marked “dead end,” among rows of multi-family homes, Elizabeth and Luis Valdez whisper quietly in the dark, hoping for a miracle.

Their apartment darkens with nightfall, the lights turned off to save electricity. Only fluttering candles to various saints in one corner of the living room illuminate Elizabeth’s face as she recounts the story of a family living on the edge, of a woman who fears her cancer will leave her four children without a mother.

Until two years ago, Elizabeth and Luis had managed to make ends meet, if barely, by picking tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers in county fields. But then the baby started kicking and a paralyzing pain shot through Elizabeth’s abdomen.

One doctor told her it was just the baby in an awkward position. Elizabeth continued working in the fields until her ninth month, and it was only after the baby was born that doctors realized there was something very wrong with her. There was a dark spot over her right kidney in the X-rays, a cancerous shadow that signaled life was about to change.

Elizabeth and her husband tried to keep the news from their children. Only when they thought the kids were asleep would they lie in bed and sob through whispers about the misdiagnoses that delayed Elizabeth’s treatment for 20 months.

Daughter Lizbeth, 9, learned the truth when she overheard them one night. Her grades began to slip. School officials called in the Valdezes for a chat. There, Lizbeth turned to her mother and revealed why she had lost all desire to learn.

“I just don’t know what we’re going to do when you die,” said the girl.

Thanks to the Caridad Center in suburban Boynton Beach, which helps the family with some medical expenses, Elizabeth had lifesaving surgery to remove her kidney and gallbladder in late September.

But the procedure has left her fragile and unable to work. As the family teeters on the brink, Luis waits in the day laborer pool for stray gigs.

Still, Elizabeth allows herself to dream for her children: may they one day have careers that will give them better lives.

“We have to give thanks to God,” she tells them. “There are others who are worse off than us.”

ELIZABETH VALDEZ’S WISH

Elizabeth Valdez’s family was dealt a serious blow when she developed kidney cancer. The mother of four cannot work in her fragile state. Her family has no car, is behind on rent and bills, and often relies on the charity of neighbors. The Valdezes would like money to help purchase a car so dad Luis, a day laborer, can drive to better employment. They need groceries, clothing, and cash or gift cards, and the children would love toys. The 14-year-old boy, Luis Jr., loves the New England Patriots football team and soccer; Lizbeth, 9, and Lesley, 5, love Bratz dolls. And Eric, 2, loves Spider-Man.