HERMAN T. Palacios, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Labor and Immigration, will take a two-month leave starting today as he heads for Honolulu, Hawaii for a kidney transplant.
“Finally, after waiting for two years, my chronic ailment will be treated. I am ready for the operation and I want to tell my constituents that I shall return, stronger, healthier and I will accomplish a lot more,” said Palacios, R-Saipan, in an interview yesterday.
He said he was supposed to be admitted to California Pacific Medical Center though a medical referral from the Commonwealth Health Center but nothing materialized on the arrangement that the hospital made.
“I waited for a year and a half and nothing happened. I almost died between Oct. 15 and Nov. 5 last year when the water got into my lungs, and that made it difficult for me to breathe,” said Palacios.
But Palacios said God finally heard his prayers. A close family friend, Dr. John Taitano, referred him to Dr. Whitney Lim, a transplant surgeon at Straub Clinic and Hospital in Honolulu.
He will be accompanied on his trip by his sister Joyce P. Pangelinan, who is the lawmaker’s organ donor, her son and Palacios’ son.
The lawmaker expressed appreciation to the people who helped him raised funds for his operation and also for those who offered him prayers.
