Today we had two really emotional home visits to families impacted by agent orange. The first was a family with a grandma, daughter, and grandson. The father had left the family so the mother had to take care of her son with the grandma. The grandfather got agent orange during the American/Vietnam war. This spread to the daughter and then to the grandson. The condition includes tumors all over the body. The tumors are painful and grow as time goes on. The family is extremely poor and receives little aid from the government. During rainy seasons they all have to live in the same home because the mother's home gets fully flooded and becomes inhabitable. However, over the past few years various organizations have worked on their home providing them with a roof and a working toilet. As the grandmother spoke of the situation she began to cry in fear. She was scared that when she passes away, their family will fall apart. The SUNY Brockport fund continues to support this family every month by providing $20 additional dollars to their funds contributed by the government.
The second family included a mother, father and two sons. The father was in the American/Vietnam war where he received agent orange. This passed onto his children. One son was born with a large hole in his stomach where you could see his organs. Because of this, skin had to be taken from other parts of his body to cover up the hole. This boy still feels the effects of this surgery. His stomach is extremely small so although he wants to eat, he cannot eat a lot. When he doesn't eat he feels starved but when he does eat, he feels uncomfortably full. The second son was born with little blood flow in his brain. He head to get surgery on the side of his brain in order to survive. Because this was a major surgery the chances of him functioning completely normally were low. Although he got through the surgery he cannot do what a typical 19 year old boy can do. He cannot go to school, he had blurred vision, he faints a few times a day and his hobbies are limited due to his condition.
The second family included a mother, father and two sons. The father was in the American/Vietnam war where he received agent orange. This passed onto his children. One son was born with a large hole in his stomach where you could see his organs. Because of this, skin had to be taken from other parts of his body to cover up the hole. This boy still feels the effects of this surgery. His stomach is extremely small so although he wants to eat, he cannot eat a lot. When he doesn't eat he feels starved but when he does eat, he feels uncomfortably full. The second son was born with little blood flow in his brain. He head to get surgery on the side of his brain in order to survive. Because this was a major surgery the chances of him functioning completely normally were low. Although he got through the surgery he cannot do what a typical 19 year old boy can do. He cannot go to school, he had blurred vision, he faints a few times a day and his hobbies are limited due to his condition.