In this July 20, 2012, photo, Si Budagher, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Rio Rancho, N.M. speaks with 9-year-old Juarez, Mexico-born boy suffering from massive tumor who U.S. Homeland Security identified only as "Jose," at the First Baptist Church of Rio Rancho, N.M. His family says U.S. federal agents sent in an armored vehicle earlier in the week to their dangerous Juarez neighborhood to help transport the boy and his parents to Albuquerque, N.M. so the boy could receive treatment. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras) (AP2012)
A young boy with a giant tumor on his neck may have found a cure to the enormous growth that is threatening his life.
José Serrano, a 10-year old from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico whose cystic growth on his shoulder and neck has threatened his eyesight and ability to breathe, was prescribed the most famous male impotence drug, Viagra, to help reduce the size of the tumor. Viagra, besides giving elderly gentlemen a sexual boost, has also been proven to shrink growths in children.
The hope here is that the Viagra will shrink the tumor enough so that doctors can safely operate on the cystic growth, known as a lymphangioma, and hopefully one day allow José to lead a normal life.
“If the doctors can cure me I will be so happy. I would be thrilled,” José told the Daily Mail. “I would be healthy and I'd be able to do anything I want. I could run fast, play on the swings and rings - anything I want.”
Extending across his neck and shoulder, the growth is rough, scaly and can be very painful. It has restricted José’s movements and made playing sports difficult because he tires easily.
Besides the threat of blindness, José’s cysts are invading his lungs and approaching his windpipe.
“It's been difficult,” his mother Cindy said. “People stare at him. Some of them have these terrible, morbid looks on their faces.”
“We've tried to let Jose lead as normal a life as possible. We let him do everything the other children do, unless it's unsafe for him or will be too difficult.”
While the Viagra may help bring down his tumor’s size, his parents will still have to find a way to afford the cost of the surgery to remove the growth. The treatment and surgery to remove the growth will cost a $200,000 and the medication runs about $2,000 per week, which José would need for several months.
The family has already made one attempt to remove the tumor. In 2012, the U.S. granted José and his family a 45-day humanitarian visa for treatment in New Mexico, and a coalition of U.S. federal agencies began working to get them into the United States.
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