The pain felt by a busy mom turned into a health scare. Now, her family is trying to recover
Catarina Gomez had been in pain for a few days in late August, but the mother of three didn’t think too much about it.
She didn’t have the time. She was too busy caring for her three children and working in a plant nursery.
But, the pain increasingly became more difficult to ignore, before finally, it was unbearable. She called her husband, Francisco, to come home from his job on a construction site.
“All I was thinking about was who is going to take care of my babies,” Catarina said through her friend, Suzie Rios, who translated questions and answers about the ordeal.
Rios added, “She couldn’t even get out of bed.”
Francisco took her to Homestead Hospital, where doctors discovered that her appendix ruptured, causing massive internal bleeding and infection, the effects from which she continues to recover.
But the situation for Catarina, 36, was so dire at first that doctors put her into an induced coma for a week. When she was released from the hospital, doctors put her on a strict liquid diet for a month.
Almost four months later, the wounds in her abdomen still have not completely closed, but the infection is gone and she continues to heal.
She can take care of her baby girl, Ruth, who will turn a year old in December. She likes to scurry around the family’s Homestead house in her baby walker, smiling and laughing at visitors.
With Mom on the mend, Francisco has returned to work, meaning the family can pay bills and rent without struggling as much..
But Catarina still has to go to the hospital every day for treatment. And, with Francisco out of work for more than two months tending to his wife and their children, the loss of income hit the family hard, and it comes at a particularly bad time for the children, who like many kids their age, are looking forward to Christmas day and presents under the tree.
“They’re just trying to get everything back in order,” Rios said.
The Arc of South Florida, a nonprofit that operates early intervention schools for special needs children — as well as siblings who don’t have special needs — where Catarina’s children Miguel, 5, and Catarina, 8, attend, nominated the family for the Miami Herald’s Wish Book program, stating they could really use some clothes and toys for Christmas this year.
When asked about specific items or toys the children would want this year, the elder Mom was humble.
“Whatever we receive, we’ll be happy,” Catarina Gomez said.
Rios works at Miguel’s and the younger Catarina’s school in Florida City, where the latter has attended since she was a baby. She coordinates therapy for the Arc’s special needs students. The young Catarina receives speech, occupational and physical therapy.
“She’s doing great,” Rios said, noting the second-grader’s progress.
RIos has been involved with the family ever since, and elaborated on some of the toys the children like.
Miguel, who is a kindergartner at ARC, is really into Power Rangers, Rios said. Catarina is all about Disney.
“Princesses, unicorns,” Rios said. “All the girly stuff.”
HOW TO HELP
Wish Book is trying to help hundreds of families in need this year. To donate, pay securely at MiamiHerald.com/wishbook. For information, call 305-376-2906 or email wishbook@miamiherald.com. (The most requested items are often laptops and tablets for school, furniture, and accessible vans.) Read more at MiamiHerald.com/wishbook.
