I am hoping to get this all faxed over today, any last minute suggestions?

September 16, 2009
The enclosed information is to be added to the I-601 waiver application that I submitted on behalf of my husband ... at his waiver appointment 01/07/2009 at the United States Consulate in Guayaquil Ecuador. This additional information is being written and submitted by myself, Christine Tenezaca – US Citizen spouse of Luis Tenezac.... All of the following information is true and correct.
My husband and I will be celebrating our 6 year wedding Anniversary on October 24, 2009. We voluntarily left the United States so that we can persue legal permanent residence for my husband so that him, myself, and our 4 year old son can live together in peace in the United States.
At the time of original i-601 submission I had been living in Ecuador along with my husband and our (then) 3 year old son Ryan. My son Ryan and I have since moved back to the United States. I could no longer endure the physical, medical, and financial hardships that I was suffering. And as a mother I could not allow my son to continue to suffer with his horrible bug bites, constant diarrhea, and asthmatic flare-ups. His health was deteriorating. However, since moving back here we have been trying to cope with a whole different set extreme hardships that we have been suffering since being separated from my husband, Ryan’s Dad. We are in a horrible position by being separated as a family.
First, my son and I are currently living below poverty level. We had to apply for federal health insurance HUSKY (see attached), and receive assistance from the government in the form of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program because I am having a hard time making enough money to pay for both our rent and food (see attached). I have not been able to secure full time employment since moving back to the United States. I was rehired at St. Mary’s hospital, where I worked prior to moving to Ecuador but because I am unable to pay for full time childcare for my son I am unable to work as much as I financially need to in order to support our son.
My son and I have had to move 5 times in the past year and a half as we try to financially survive separate from my husband (see attached address change documentation). We have had to live with different family members since moving back to the United States and my son has had to go to three different preschools (see attached) as a result of us having to move so much.
This causes extreme emotional suffering for my son. In his four years of life he has had very little constancy. We move all the time, sometimes we are living together as a family, sometimes not. He doesn’t understand why his father can’t just get on an airplane and come back to the United States so we can be together. It is heartbreaking to put my son through this. My son is confused o ver all of the constant turmoil and change in his life and at this point, is being traumatized. Between our constant moving of homes, schools, continued loss of possessions including his dog, and being without his father the emotional effects on him are clearly evident. He is petrified I will leave him, won’t go anywhere without me, and he is afraid of the dark and will not sleep alone. None of this was a problem until we had to physically move separate from his father. I am the only constant in his life, but we don’t want it to be this way. We want both his mom and his dad to be the constants in his life.
I spoke with the social worker at Ryan’s preschool about my concerns regarding the constant turmoil in my son’s life. Since we just moved again, and Ryan started at another new school after this move, the social worker has only known my son for about 2 weeks. She suggested I look into “Adjustment Disorder” to see if my son seemed to be exhibiting some of the characteristics of this psychiatric diagnosis. Please read the following
Adjustment disorder (AD) is a stress-related, short-term, nonpsychotic disturbance. Persons with AD are often viewed as disproportionately overwhelmed or overly intense in their responses to given stimuli. These responses manifest as emotional or behavioral reactions to an identifiable stressful event or change in the person's life; for instance, in the pediatric population, these events could be parental separation or divorce, a new birth in the family, or loss of an attachment figure or object (eg, pets).
Despite the difficulty in defining this diagnosis, the discomfort, distress, turmoil, and anguish to the patient are significant and the consequences, such as the suicidal potential, are extremely important.
My four year old son is clearly exhibiting the signs and symptoms for this disorder. He has had emotional and behavioral reactions to being separated from his father. He loves his Dad. He misses his Dad. Ryan is currently on a 3 month waiting list to be seen by a child therapist.
My son’s health problems have been increasing since coming home from Ecuador.
I have enclosed documentation from a pediatrician stating that the living conditions in Ecuador make my son’s asthma worse.
As well as documentation from a pediatrician showing that while living in Ecuador my son contracted:
1. Oral Herpes simplex – symptoms: blisters around the mouth
2. Molluscum Contagiosum – lesions on the skin
The medication for the Molluscum Contagiosum is $562 a month. The medication has to be applied 3 times a week for 16 weeks. If the Molluscum Contagiosum does not respond to the treatment or if the virus spreads, the lesions will have to be burned off. My husband asked the pharmacy in Biblian, Ecuador and they do not have this medication. The Valtrex treatment for Oral Herpes is not recommended for children as young as my son. My son will never be able to get rid of the Oral Herpes virus. That is a life long disease that he contracted while living in Ecuador.
Both of these viruses were contracted while my son was in Ecuador for two months over the summer in order to spend time with his dad. In addition, we both continue to suffer from the chronic diarrhea that we get every single time we go to Ecuador because of the lack of basic clean water, refrigeration, and flush toilets. And my son and I are both at higher risks for tuberculosis and have to get routinely screened.
The turmoil and suffering has had a negative affect on my mental health. I sought mental health treatment because I simply cried all the time. Every day I would find myself crying and it wasn’t healthy for my son to see me in such distress. I have since been prescribed the anti-depressant Prozac by a psychiatrist (see attached). This is the first time in my life that I have ever been treated for depression. My psychiatrist thinks that I will be able to stop taking the medication once my husband and I are reunited since the source of my sadness and pain will be finished.
At the end of April I received notification that I was accepted into Bridgeport Hospital School of Nursing which began in September (see attached). I attend classes and work as a student nurse completing my clinical requirements four days a week. The course load is high and we are encouraged to spend at least 3 hours a day outside of class studying. I am honored to be a student nurse and really need my husband’s support emotionally and financially. I also really need his help with caring for our four year old son, who because of his separation anxiety and lack of additional family supports consumes just about all of my time. I never intented to be a single mother. The tuition for Bridgeport Hospital is over $12,000 (see attached). I have had to take out large student loans (see attached) to pay for schooling having exhausted all of my savings (see attached). I took out an additional $3,000 (the maximum allowable) in order to pay my $1200.00 a month rent, of which I pay half (see attached). My husband would be able to provide care for my son while I am in school. And I desperately need the financial support of my husband as well. He works in Ecuador but makes only $300 a month.
I have also enclosed additional information from my Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor in Connecticut showing my degenerative hearing loss condition that the doctors in Ecuador were unable to treat while I was living there for the six months of 2008. The paperwork states that I have to continue to receive treatment for this condition. But in Ecuador, I was not able to receive the surgical and medical therapies that I need. The specialist that I saw about my condition in Ecuador said that I should be treated in the United States, where they have more experience with inter-cranial surgeries.
I can not move back to Ecuador. I tried it and the extreme suffering was dangerous for both myself and our son. When I was living in Ecuador, we were relying heavily on the support of my husbands family. We were living in their small home, forcing my parents-in-law to share a bed with my two sisters in law in order to accomadate me, my husband, and our son. My husbands family is very poor, which is why he came to the United States ten years ago. They can no longer support my family (see attached).
My husband has been doing his best to better himself while in Ecuador so that he can be a productive and helpful resident in the United States. Please see the attached certifications from the Cuerpo de Bomberos in Ecuador where my husband is a firefighter.
I implore you to please approve my husbands I-601. We have suffered so much over the past two years when we decided to voluntarily leave the United States as a family and try and live together in Ecuador. We are trying to do what is best for our family. Please have mercy on us and approve this waiver. We all desperately need to be together. I can not go back to Ecuador. Please help us.
Sincerely,

Christine Tenezaca