A father named Hung doesn’t sleep at night anymore. His daughter, named Ha, is suffering from hypogastrium cancer. She may only have a few more months to live. Medical expenses are far beyond what the family can afford. Their most valuable asset is a tiny, old house.
Ho Van Hung and his daughter at the Central Pediatrics Hospital.
Ho Van Hung, from Dien Kim, Dien Chau, Nghe An, is 33 years old. But people might think he is more than 40 because a hard life has left many wrinkles on his face.
A few weeks ago, Hung took his daughter to the Central Pediatrics Hospital. He was worried but hopeful. But he has had to bring his child back home in pain. The father feels helpless knowing that his little girl might be leaving him and his family forever, and he doesn't know what to do to prevent it.
Hung said his family discovered baby Ha was sick a few months ago. One day when she was playing with her grandmother and little sister, Ha's grandmother happened to touch her tummy and felt a hard lump. She was brought to a district-level hospital. Doctors there told the family to take the child to the provincial hospital.
At the provincial hospital, Ha was diagnosed as having a tumour in her stomach and they conducted an operation to cut out the growth. As the tumour was big (as big as an egg), they sent it to the Poland Hospital in Nghe An for testing. The results suggested it was only a benign tumor.
One month later, Ha often cried due to stomach pain, for the lump had returned, and soon her left leg became swollen. The family took her back to the hospital. This time they were advised to go to the Central Pediatrics Hospital in Hanoi.
The day Hung took their daughter to Hanoi, his wife had no more tears to cry. She couldn't go with them to take care of Ha herself, as she needed to take care of the two other children (a five- and a one-and-a-half year old) as well as their elderly parents.
Till that day, no member of the family had ever left Nghe An. Every day, they had earned around VND30,000 ($8-9) from producing salt. They borrowed VND10 million ($590) from relatives and neighbours to take Ha to Hanoi.
Doctors at the Central Pediatrics Hospital diagnosed Ha with stage-3 hypogastrium cancer. Although it had not yet metastasised, it was still very dangerous. This form of cancer is very rare and often hospitals cannot help. The possibility of being cured from hypogastrium cancer is quite low, about 30% according to international medical research.
Another disadvantage in Ha's case is that her reaction to chemotherapy was unclear, meaning that even if the treatment is continued, the doctors are not confident if that would help, notwithstanding the potential side-effects of chemotherapy: high fever, bad infection, or worse, hemorrhaging in the brain, lungs, or even death. Moreover, medication is very expensive.
Doctors said without treatment, she might only live for a few more months. As time goes by, the tumour gets bigger and will press down on internal organs; the cancer will likely metastasise to the bones, liver, etc. which will cause Ha considerable pain, as well as urination and bowel movement disorders.
Hung felt like the sky just crashed down on him. All that he had worried about had come true. The painful feeling of being helpless broke him down.
When Ha was in the hospital, he spent as little as possible to save the money he borrowed from friends for Ha's medical expenses. He got Ha a corn on the cob for breakfast, a loaf of bread for lunch, and a VND10,000 ($0.5) dinner. Whatever his daughter didn't eat, that was his meal.
"I ate just enough to take care of her, but that of course is not enough for a man,” he said.
"My wife was planning to ask for a bank loan to cure our daughter, but since I'm the head of the household, the bank required me to be there for the paperwork. I couldn’t leave Ha here, and I couldn’t let my wife come to Hanoi herself to take my place with Ha, she doesn't know the way around.”
He said he was taking Ha back home, but wasn't sure if he would be able to bring her back for treatment.
"It's so hard to decide. If we knew she would be cured, we would definitely sell our house. But the doctors said her chance to live is so slim, if we sold everything, what if we'd ended up losing her, losing our house and can't take care of our other children?"
Tears ran down the broken-hearted father's cheeks. He pulled his little girl into his arms and cried.
"Raising her this long, this much, how can I let her go? But what else can we do now? It's all up to fate."
Holding Ha in one arm, a duffle bag with all of their clothes in the other, he was leaving for the bus to go back to Nghe An. At home, Ha's mother, her sister and brother, her grandparents are waiting.
Readers who would like to help out Ha and her family, please contact Mr. Ho Van Hung at: Team 1, Kim Lien village, Dien Kim commune, Dien Chau district, the central province of Nghe An; Tel: 84-01696651273.
VietNamNet/VNE
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