Luis Vidal Rodarte owes his life to our medical clinic

A small, fatty lump on his foot — that’s how Luis Vidal Rodarte’s sarcoma cancer started. It's a rare and aggressive form of cancer that develops in the bones and soft tissues. 

Before cancer, Luis loved playing basketball in local leagues. He danced cumbias with his wife, Asucena, and enjoyed spending time with their three daughters. Luis laid tile for a living and made enough to provide the necessities for his family, but not enough to cover a monthly health insurance premium.

When he discovered the lump on his foot in 2020, it worried him enough to seek care, but he didn’t know where to turn.

By recommendation of a friend, Luis scheduled an appointment at St. Vincent de Paul’s Virginia G. Piper Medical Clinic, which gave him access to quality care for uninsured patients.

That’s where Luis met Dr. John Anwar, the Chief Medical Officer of the clinic who also practices internal medicine at St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center.

After multiple tests determined the lump to be only fatty tissue, an operation to remove it was planned, but the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the non-essential procedure. When Luis returned again to the clinic in 2021 for a new growth on his thigh, Dr. Anwar had immediate concern.

“I felt antsy. I did not really want to wait on this mass,” Dr. Anwar said, “so I ended up sending him to the hospital.”

By the next day, the oncologist confirmed Dr. Anwar’s suspicion.

“We came out with the cancer diagnosis,” said Asucena, reflecting on that day—May 15, 2021. 

“Our world fell apart because we asked ourselves, ‘What are we going to do in this country where medicine is so expensive?’”

But Dr. Anwar moved quickly, making calls and applying for grants to help fund the care Luis needed to survive. Luis started a rigorous treatment plan, receiving two weeks of very strong chemotherapy to help shrink the tumor.  

“We returned home to rest for two weeks, so he would recover,” Asucena explained. “And then another week of chemotherapy, two weeks of rest, and so on. There were about 10 chemotherapy sessions in the hospital until he could have surgery [to remove the tumor].”

Dr. Anwar followed his progress closely, remaining involved throughout the recurrence of the cancer in Luis’ thyroid, then the recurrence of it in his stomach, and the ensuing rounds of chemotherapy and surgery.

“He would go and visit us [in the hospital] when he could have used that time to rest,” Luis said. “It’s something I will never forget.”

“I have a soft heart when it comes to cancer,” said Dr. Anwar, whose mother struggled with the disease. “So cancer patients are in a very, very bad spot, you know. And the last thing they need to worry about is paperwork and navigating different specialists.”

When possible, Dr. Anwar arranged Luis’ clinic appointments so that he could personally tend to his care and be sure his other medical conditions remained controlled so as not to jeopardize Luis’ chemo treatment. A break in treatment would risk the cancer returning, especially an aggressive cancer like sarcoma , which could come back even stronger. 

Given his health, Luis couldn’t work. Nor could Asucena, who focused on caring for her husband. 

“Cancer is the whole family,” Asucena said.

And Luis’ cancer treatment required a family of doctors too. It took a network of more than 50 providers, offering all kinds of care from oncology to physical therapy and more to treat Luis. 

“It’s a large group,” Asucena said. “Many, many doctors who were attentive. The best attention, the best medicine, the best treatment, just everything. I never tire of thanking them for this.”

Thanks to the coordination of SVdP’s charity medical clinic and its relationship with all the providers, most of that care happened at zero cost to Luis and his family. 

“All of the treatments, blood transfusions, we didn’t pay for anything,” Asucena said. “Maybe $50 for medicine, but that’s nothing.”

Luis even had the chance to receive care from SVdP’s Delta Dental of Arizona Oral Health Center, which helped him with fillings and the wear on his front teeth from the constant nausea and sickness after chemotherapy.

“We do whatever needs to be done,” said Dr. Betzanahy Leyva, who is assistant dental director and has experience treating cancer patients. “Extract some teeth, do some fillings, so that once they're done, they can go through radiation and chemotherapy, and their mouth is going to be healthy enough to go through that.”

Dr. Anwar counts Dr. Leyva among the many providers who make up the "medical village" it took to ensure Luis received the care he needed.

“Without us, I have no idea where Luis would have ended up,” said Dr. Anwar, who has witnessed the difficulty uninsured patients with low healthy literacy and language barriers have in navigating the health care system. 

“It’s too much for somebody like Luis to handle on his own. So we go out of our way, even go beyond what we do on a regular day, because we know that this patient will fall through the cracks of the system.”

After a three- and half-year ordeal, Luis’ scans for cancer came back clear in April 2023. Finally, his body was free of any new tumors. Now, his team of doctors have him on the pill form of chemotherapy and keep a close watch on him while Luis focuses on recovery and regaining strength in his leg.

“I am so grateful that I am alive because of them, because if the doctor hadn’t gotten me help, who knows what would have happened to me.”

Luis hopes to return to his normal life, to work again and make up for lost time with his daughters. And, of course, he asks God every day that his cancer not return. He has a warrior’s spirit, one that hopefully one day will bring him back to the basketball court and maybe back on the dance floor too.