My Peruvian PWS

My name is Raul Rios Centeno -absolutely latin name- i'm 29 y.o. I have a PWS on my left side of the face, neck and chest. Obviously the fact of being citizen of a non developed country limited the kind of technology for managing my case.
When i was a child, my PWS was called a "benign tumor or vascular tumor" and most of the surgeons did not decided how to handle it. Some doctors suggested to use dry ice on it, others to apply some Vitamin K, and the most famous cancer surgeon at Lima -that the city where i live in Peru- told my mother to not touch it.
The school was obviously so hard, children use to abuse from the weak or strange. In my case it was like that. My mom use to make me feel absolutely normal, and my family do helped with that. The fact was that in managed my live at school probably as normal as any other child, but obviously i just had a few friends.
In 1990, I was a teen with an absolutely normal live, however, a small grease spot appeared on my PWS at the chin. I thought it was the acne and i pushed it. It bleeded, and bleeded a lot. I suposed it had to stop in some minutes. But it bleeded a time, stopped, and restart bleeding. It passed about a week and i noticed it was a kind of grain there it felt hard and i really thought it was time to see a doctor. I came to a neck and face surgeon, and obviously as all surgeons he decided to make a surgery and cut it. It was my first scar on the PWS, my chin will never look the same.
However i decided to have a career, and dentistry was my major. I was at the dental school here in Lima. my medical formation let me to understand more my PWS. It was the 90's and the internet let me to have more information and contact people. I understood that it was more people like me around the world, i have to accept that i was more confortable knowing that all those people had the same feelings and sensations as i did. In 1998 i've contacted a physician at NY, i prefer not to say any name, but he suggested me to go to the U.S. and make a treatment with a laser he started to handle. But it was a kind of problem. My insurance did not cover it, and -have on mind that i was a peruvian student with no money- the costs were around the 10k. I was frustrated to know that it exist a solution, but i had not the money for that.
I finished my career, at 1999, and started on working in the same dental school the next year. I started on looking for treatments here in Peru, it were not. Not laser or any other device. Some friends suggested me to look at Argentina, it was known that Argentina had a nice financial position in South America those years, and probably somebody had bought some laser tech.
I've contacted one physician that told me that he was treating pws with an "intense pulsed light". And the cost was really acceptable. But suddenly my mom was diagnosed with braist cancer, and all of my plans had to be stopped. Once my mom was treated, and finished the radio therapy and chemo therapy i decided to join back my treatment. It was 2003.
The first application of the light, was absolutely painful. I suggested the physician to apply it at the lower lip, face and neck. I liked the spot at my chest and decided to keep it, and manage as a control. 4 hours ago, it appeared some bubbles of lymph, it was so painful. When i looked at the mirror it was a terrible show! My face was completely deformed and it was bubbles all around. When i took the plane for coming back to Lima, the counter employee decided to call the doctor of the airline to know if i can fly or not. Obviously i was the main show of the airport and plane. I really wanted to be at home.
I came to that doctor for about 6 times more. The PWS lightened in about 60% in the neck and 30% at face. But the initials IPL were at his machine, but it was just a Photoderm VL a non coherent light. It finally gave me a big scar at the chin -so next to the first one- and other so next to my ear.
I've decided to stop the treatment 'cause i was not getting too much results the last 2 applications, and it was expensive to take a plane from Peru to Argentina just for 20 minutes of treatment.
On early 2005 i've visited to a dermatologist for the scars. I applied me some nitro, with poor effects, but he told me that my PWS can lighten more if i apply the Candela VBeam. He told that he was not very sure if it was any VBeam at Peru, but he does know that it was about 2 in Chile and 6 in Brazil.
With that new hope i started to contact people in Chile. It was about 500 dollars each application, and probably i needed 6 to 8 sessions. I looked my savings and i just could afford 2 sessions. So i decided to wait, to have more savings and go for all the sessions i need.
Actually it is 2006, August. In one week -this coming 17th- i'll have my first Vbeam session. I have read all the parameters, effects, side effects and a wide etc. I'm so excited.
But i'm still having on mind all that people that can not go the treatment beacause it is too expensive. For an average peruvian going to Chile for a medical treatment. is very expensive. So i have started what i've called the PWS Peru Foundation. I do not know when, but in a short time i want to apply the VBeam on people like me. I know what is the feeling, and i just want to help other people like, latin people, south american people, to have a normal live. Hey! i'm the red doctor, in fact most of my children patients called me like that, now i smile and joke with that.
I want to help people like me, so probably i'll make a blog for that, and i'll cover my treatment with some pics i'll be uploading soon.