CHICAGO — In the small family restaurant in Rogers Park Monday evening, Walter Guevara sat at a table and devoured yucca fries and Peruvian-style rice with stewed chicken, hungry despite his numerous cancer treatments.

The 18-year-old and his twin, José, are both fighting tumors. But after Walter experienced years of what his family describes as medical mistreatment in Peru, their mother, Maria Ysabel, decided to seek medical care in the United States. She saved money, filled out an application and waited months as Walter’s condition steadily declined before learning she and her sons had received their visas.

Last week, she cried tears of gratitude for the care Walter has received since their arrival to the U.S. this March, including their short trip from Rochester, Minnesota, to Chicago for their country’s Independence Day. They are originally from Chiclayo, Peru, so they feel a special connection to Chicago because of Pope Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago but served as a bishop in Chiclayo for eight years.

“We’re so grateful for everyone we’ve crossed paths with here — especially the hospital workers and general consul of Peru,” Ysabel said. “I arrived here not knowing how to speak English, without enough money to buy water.”

The Guevaras represent hundreds of thousands of people who cross the U.S. border seeking better medical treatment than what is available in their home countries. The humanitarian visa application process has always been difficult and expensive, said Veronika Bustamante, the consul general of Peru in Chicago. However, she noted that Trump has increased the price of visas and tightened control of the process as part of his immigration crackdown efforts and travel ban policy.

“And, even if the administration grants a visa, sometimes they don’t accept the person in immigration controls here at the airport, and some of them have had to return,” Bustamante said.

Under the federal visa policy, Maria, José and Walter are allowed to stay in the U.S. for only six months. After asking for permission to enter the country to receive better care, they are now navigating the U.S. medical system on their own terms, managing appointments and treatment plans in an unfamiliar language while racing against the clock set by their immigration documents.

Ysabel, 56, said she and her five children find strength in one another. The single mom left her job, her family and three of her children behind in Peru to come to the U.S. for cancer treatment for Walter. José, who has yet to receive treatment for the tumors found in his leg, has paused his studies to care for his brother, whose cancer has advanced. The twins stay closely connected to their family back home, calling their siblings and relatives regularly.

And for a few days last week, they found comfort in the Peruvian community in Chicago, which wrapped its arms around them to help them feel more at home.

A diagnosis

Four years ago, Walter was an active student. He swam and played volleyball, pingpong and basketball with his brothers. He loved art and building design.

But in January 2021, he was playing games with his brothers when he felt a sharp pain in his right leg. It was persistent, he said, so he asked his mom to take him to a doctor. After his medical team confirmed his case, Maria moved the twins to Lima to be close to the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases, a Peruvian public hospital that specializes in cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment.

The doctors there first told Walter he had a rare cancer that develops in the soft tissues of the body, such as muscles, tendons and ligaments. Doctors also discovered that José had two tumors on his right leg — in the same place where Walter’s were — that required ongoing attention. Meanwhile, Walter’s condition deteriorated. A tumor on his calf swelled up to the size of a bowling ball, as seen in a photo reviewed by the Tribune.

Unhappy with the treatment in Lima, and now with two sons with tumors, Ysabel panicked. She told herself that Walter had to be able to receive better care somewhere else. She found the Mayo Clinic online.

“I didn’t know whether I could actually get there. I just thought, ‘That’s where I’m going,’” she said.

But first, she had to obtain visas for herself and her sons. She wanted to bring both the twins to the U.S., to get immediate assistance for Walter and, eventually, consultation and help for José. She interviewed with the Peruvian authorities and was initially denied. She then appealed and continued to make her case.

She saved money from her teacher’s salary to pay for the airfare and the legal fees associated with the visa process. But it’s harder today than it was when they were applying for visas, she added. A single visa before Trump was elected cost her $180, she said. The cost for a visa went up $250 this month, she added.

In December 2024, by what she called “the grace of God,” she and her sons received their visas from the U.S. government. After asking the Mayo Clinic for an appointment, they arrived in the U.S. in March of this year. They said they are staying in a Ronald McDonald charity home in Rochester, Minnesota, near the hospital there.

Walter was immediately hospitalized upon arrival at the Mayo Clinic. The doctors informed Ysabel that the cancer had spread and that Walter had pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung, when he boarded the flight to the U.S. They told her it was a miracle he survived.

They performed an above-knee amputation on Walter’s leg, and with the help of a prosthetic company in Rochester and a local clinic, he is adjusting to walking again.

‘I want to fight until the very end’

After finding out about Walter’s lung condition, the doctors told Ysabel that his cancer was terminal and advised her to bring him back to Peru to be around family for his final days. But she’s determined to get a second opinion and more medical advice. And, if they go back, José will have to fight his tumors in Peru, where they worry he might not receive adequate treatment.

“As a mother, I want to feel satisfied that I did everything possible until the very end,” she said. “I want to fight until the very end.”

Because Walter and José represent different levels of advancement of the same illness, the twins could offer a unique research opportunity, Ysabel said. She hopes that will help them in their bid to stay in the country.

Sometimes, Walter expresses guilt to his mother for diverting her attention away from his other siblings. She tells him that he is the one who is most vulnerable, and that there is no better way to live than fighting for what you love.

“But deep down, I’m afraid,” Ysabel admitted. “Living in this agony of not knowing whether your child is going to pass away tomorrow or the next day — it’s horrible.”

Walter’s twin, José, spent most of his last two years in school making sure his brother could get around in his wheelchair. He then put his medical studies on hold to come to the U.S.

He is by his brother’s side for every appointment, and the two of them play games on the patio of their home in Rochester.

“He sits and I stand,” José said. “Sometimes he even moves around with his prosthesis, and we play volleyball together — like we used to do in school.”

Walter, for his part, tries to stay positive. He’s currently enrolled at the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería in Peru, where he takes online architecture classes. He says the pain in his leg has been mitigated after the amputation.

Home

The hardest part of Walter’s cancer treatment has been the distance from their home in Chiclayo, the twins said, where “everyone knows each other.”

They were very connected to their church community there. José even said that two of his siblings were confirmed by the pope.

Amid their appointments and time in waiting rooms, Ysabel arranged a last-minute trip to Chicago as a respite to celebrate Peru’s Independence Day on July 28.

Bustamante, the consul general, introduced the boys to Cesar Izquierdo, owner of the Taste of Peru restaurant in Rogers Park, who gave them an architectural tour of the city and helped them find a place to stay. They ate at his restaurant and spent one night listening to jazz.

On July 26, they attended a ceremony celebrating their nation’s holiday at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Albany Park. They toasted their pisco sours and danced to Peruvian music. They had a picnic the next day with Izquierdo’s two daughters, one of whom — Sara — is a medical student at the University of Illinois Chicago and is helping Walter and José connect with doctors.

She has worked with migrants for months through the Mobile Migrant Health Team, and she and fellow medical student Miguel del Busto said they sent requests for a second opinion to 15 hospitals, all of which have some documented history of treating or studying Walter’s rare form of cancer.

One cancer center in Texas told the family that a consultation could cost as much as $37,000 because of the specificity of Walter’s condition, according to an email reviewed by the Tribune. Treatment could range anywhere from $500,000 to $750,000, another hospital told the family in a separate email also reviewed by the Tribune.

And Izquierdo said Trump’s cuts to Medicaid make it harder for hospitals to see low-income patients such as the twins.

“Just getting to the point of a reply from these hospitals has been a challenge,” she said. “So imagine having to navigate a similar situation, but alone … and you have all these additional language and cultural barriers.”

Although they have received some assistance and donations, they said they still face tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills from their time at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Izquierdo is working with a social worker at UIC to help draft a letter to reduce that amount, and she made a GoFundMe to help. Mayo Clinic did not immediately respond to a call or email for comment.

Monday evening, the group gathered around the table in the family restaurant and chatted and laughed.

Moving forward, they face more daunting medical bills and concerns about changing visa laws. But for now, they’re grateful for having been granted permission to come to the U.S.

After dinner, they boarded a bus back to Rochester for several appointments, carrying the warmth of the strangers in Chicago who had become extended family.

____

©2025 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.