By Madelynn Loring, Staff Writer, & Dr. Drwecki’s Social Psychology Class
Dr. Rivarola is a beloved biology faculty member here at at Regis. Her dad, Alberto, is 74 years old and lives in Ayacucho, a small town in the Buenos Aires province, Argentina. He began to work after finishing elementary school at age 12. He helped his family and worked all his life until he retired at the age of 68. Nevertheless, his current pension/retirement payment is less than 125 dollars per month. In his fifties, he attended high school for adults from 6pm-11pm for three years. He graduated with the highest score in his class! He is a father of four (Alejandra, Braulio, Victoria, and Dr. Rivarola) and grandfather of eight (Leandro-27, Pilar-23, Nicolasa-14, Vicente-19, Jacinta-16, Ignacio-8, Isabela-13, and Antonia-5, these last two are Dr. Rivarola’s daughters). He has been married for 53 years (but they began dating when they were 12 or 13 years old; both are the same age). He loves cooking, spending time with family and friends, traveling, dancing, reading, music, taking walks with his dog, and singing.
Dr. Rivarola (second from the left), her dad, Alberto (second from the right), and their family.
The doctors found invasive squamous cell carcinoma, a highly deadly form of cancer, in his mouth in August. By the time he got the diagnosis, the cancer had spread from his gum to his jaw and some lymph nodes in his neck. Urgent surgery was a must. He was given at that time a 25% chance to survive. Argentina has free healthcare, however, the system has totally collapsed due to decades of corrupt governments. The waiting list goes beyond a year. Hospitals are understaffed and outdated with no equipment or resources. The best head and neck surgeon was in Buenos Aires. They had met his doctor and agreed to do the surgery in a private clinic. The surgery was called “mandibulectomy with lymph nodes emptying”. Her father had his surgery on August 23rd. He remained hospitalized for the next eight days.
Alberto recovering from his first cancer surgery.
They removed a total of 85 nodes and a big portion of his jaw. With that procedure, his survival rate increased to 50%. The following treatment involves six weeks of daily radiation therapy plus weekly chemotherapy. Doctors are waiting for a complete regeneration of buccal tissue before beginning the second stage. That would increase his survival rate to 75%. His family has combined efforts and found they could cover roughly 60% of the total cost. But, our help can hopefully reach to fill in this gap in order for her father to have his surgery.
Please be an ally in the fight against cancer and donate to help Alberto afford his life saving treatment. Every dollar helps!
Donate at their GoFundMe below