April 2022 Update
Mrs. Alicia Alcocer Koplowitz from Madrid, Spain donated toys, backpacks, and books to United2Cure Children to be distributed to the pediatric cancer patients in the Department of Pediatrics at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Help Our Local Patients And Front-line Medical Personnel
Dear Friends, We hope this message finds you and your loved ones well during this unprecedented and challenging time. So many of you have asked how you can help support the patients and front-line healthcare workers struggling through the dire impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our community. The outpouring of thoughtfulness, prayers,…
Story from the first “Heart Autotransplantation” in Latin America.
Recently, United2Cure, a non-profit started by physicians at MD Anderson Cancer Center, funded and coordinated all logistics for the first partial heart auto-transplantation in Latin America to remove a rare tumor around the heart. Laura Caicedo is a 22 year-old Colombian girl who presented to a prominent cardiovascular institute in Colombia, Fundacion Cardioinfantil, with elevated...
A Young Heart in the Right Hands
By Shanley Chien | February 07, 2018 Three Texas Medical Center doctors traveled to Colombia to save a young woman’s life. Gabriel Mena, M.D., was busy in the operating room last May when a message popped up on his cell phone. The text came from a fellow doctor and friend in Houston who had heard…
Eilen Melissa Maurio Paternina
Eilen Melissa Maurio Paternina lives in Ayapel, Colombia. Ayapel is a rural area with extreme poverty, no roads, and uneven terrain. When Eilen developed an unknown tumor, it left her paraplegic, meaning that her legs were paralyzed. Her parents had to carry her for several miles over the rough terrain in order for her to…
Manuel Altahona
Manuel Altahona had a defect that restricted his movement, and it was his dream and Christmas wish to be able to live without it getting in the way. Our United2Cure Team flew to meet Manuel at Clinica Reina Catalina Hospital in Barranquilla, Colombia. The CEO of the hospital is also on the Board of Directors…
Tessa Ebert
Tessa Ebert was only 18 months of age when she was diagnosed with a right retroperitoneal infrarenal mass (a tumor) called a Neuroblastoma Stage 2A. The tumor measured 6.3 cm by 8 cm. Unfortunately, Tessa’s parents were farmers in rural Colorado and couldn’t afford to pay for her treatment at a local hospital. When Boyd…
