Quang NgaiLittle Co, 4 years old, spent 8 months fighting metastatic stage 4 neuroblastoma, and has now miraculously recovered after a stem cell transplant.
From a weak, physically exhausted girl, Co can now run, jump, and play with her peers. The day her daughter was discharged from the hospital, the small 40 m2 house of Nguyen Thi Tra Nhi and her husband echoed with laughter.
"Since our baby received a stem cell transplant, my husband and I have more hope for a bright future after difficult days of treatment," she said on March 25.
In June 6, baby Co suddenly lost his appetite, had indigestion, nausea, and stomach pain. The doctor gave me medicine to treat the bloating, but it didn't help. A few days later, lymph nodes appeared on her neck. Doctors at Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital discovered that she had neuroblastoma, stage 2023, lymph node metastases, with a poor prognosis.
Neuroblastoma is common in infants and children under 5 years old, because it can form before birth. This is a solid tumor in nerve cells outside the brain, nerve tissue near the spine of the neck, chest, abdomen or pelvis, often in the adrenal glands (located on top of both kidneys). Many symptoms are due to pressure from the tumor, such as bone pain, difficulty breathing, fever, anemia...
Cancer is often discovered after it has spread to other parts of the body such as lymph nodes (small, bean-shaped organs that help fight infection), liver, lungs, bones and bone marrow (spongy, red tissue). , inside large bones).
"It was like the sky was falling," the mother recounted the feeling when she heard the doctor tell her that her child had cancer. The baby was treated at Children's Hospital 2 in Ho Chi Minh City, combining many measures including surgery, high-dose chemical infusion, stem cell transplant, then radiotherapy. Baby Co received chemotherapy every 10 days, a regimen of 9 cycles. The child's skinny arms were covered with vein injections and intravenous fluids. Chemicals cause the baby to lose sleep, lose appetite, vomit continuously, and the body becomes pale.
The doctor advised stem cell transplant - the last measure to help the child survive, because if only palliative care is given, the baby's life span will be short. Stem cell transplantation helps completely destroy cancer cells, regenerate healthy cells, remission children and reduce the risk of recurrence.
However, the cost of a stem cell transplant is quite high, about 300-400 million VND, while the cost of staying in an isolated and sterile room is not covered by health insurance. This therapy can only be performed in centers with good technical facilities and facilities, including stem cell harvesting machines, stem cell storage areas, and standard stem cell transplant rooms (stem cell transplant rooms). especially with air filtration system). The medical team must be trained and experienced in the field of stem cell transplantation. This is a barrier to treatment for difficult families in general and Nhi and her husband in particular.
Ms. Nhi is a housewife, her husband works to support the family, but his job is unstable, his income is low, not enough to make ends meet. They do not have enough financial capacity to treat their child.
In February this year, baby Co was fortunate to receive support from the Sun of Hope program (Hope Fund - VnExpress) to support the cost of stem cell transfusion to prevent cancer from metastasizing far away. On February 2, the patient began a stem cell transplant. After the indicators stabilized, the baby was discharged from the hospital and cared for at home.
Pediatric patients treated at the hospital. Image: Characters provided
Coming home, little Co was happier because he had many relatives nearby, but his health was still weak, he could not walk, had pain all over his body, and often vomited. Many nights the baby cried because of stomach pain and headaches. Ms. Nhi tries to take care of her child's meals, sleep, playing and reading stories to help her child forget the pain.
On March 20, one month after the stem cell transplant, Co was much stronger and could play with his friends. Test results showed that the baby's body no longer had malignant cells. Next, the baby will receive radiotherapy when his health returns to normal.
According to doctors, stem cell transplantation is often the most difficult stage for pediatric patients. Children need strong chemical infusions and special isolation rooms. Family members must ensure sterility to avoid infection from outside. Children must supplement nutrition due to increased fatigue, loss of appetite, diarrhea, malnutrition, and weight loss.
Looking back on the past 8 months, Ms. Nhi confided "it was like a dream". When she entered the hospital, she saw many children with serious illnesses and had to be treated every year. She felt that her family was still lucky.
"As long as my child is healthy, I can sacrifice anything," the mother shared.
| With the goal of rekindling the faith of pediatric cancer patients, the Hope Foundation combined with Mr. Sun to launch the Sun of Hope program. Another contribution from the community is another ray of light sent to the future generations of the country. Readers can view program information here. |
Thuy Quynh
