The Miami Herald
April 5, 2000
 
 
Anxiety sends cousin to hospital
 
Marisleysis has been treated six times since boy's arrival

 BY MEG LAUGHLIN

 Marisleysis Gonzalez, whom attorneys for her family call ''the surrogate mother of
 Elian Gonzalez,'' was hospitalized Tuesday for ''emotional anxiety'' again.

 This hospitalization at Coral Gables Hospital brings the total number of known
 hospitalizations to six for Gonzalez since Elian's arrival in November, and the
 number of known hospitalizations since June to seven.

 In two cases, the reason given on forms was ''nervous stomach.'' In three
 other cases, the reason given was ''emotional anxiety.'' But in two other cases,
 hospital officials would not divulge the reason.

 As usual, Gonzalez, 21, was admitted on an emergency basis and, as usual,
 went to a hospital different from the one she was last admitted to, which was
 Mercy Hospital. This time, she went to Coral Gables because it was ''the
 closest transport,'' said a fire-rescue officer.

 She was taken from La Carreta Restaurant on Southwest Eighth Street on a
 gurney after she became pale and nauseated after a round of early morning
 interviews.

 In June, Gonzalez was admitted to Palmetto Hospital. Then, in December, 10
 days after Elian was rescued from the sea and came to live with her, she was
 admitted to Pan American Hospital. In February she was admitted to Hialeah
 Hospital, and four days later later, she was admitted to Mercy Hospital. And
 according to Armando Gutierrez, spokesman for the Gonzalez family, she was
 admitted to emergency rooms two more times since Elian's arrival - a second
 time at Mercy Hospital and a second time at Coral Gables Hospital - bringing the
 total number of known hospitalizations to seven.

 Repeatedly, Gonzalez's father, Lazaro, and Gutierrez point to her fear of losing
 the boy and the media attention heaped upon them as reason enough to explain
 the stress and exhaustion that result in chronic dashes to the emergency room.

 Little is known about Gonzalez's past that might further explain the repeated
 attacks of anxiety. She graduated from Miami High School in 1997, then went to
 Miami-Dade Community College, where she signed up for classes for three
 consecutive semesters in 1998 and 1999. But each semester, she quickly
 withdrew, causing her to be put on academic probation in May.

 Currently, Gonzalez is on unpaid leave from her position as an assistant loan
 processor at Ocean Bank.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald