Three-year-old Ha’s condition remains life-threatening even after surgery and chemotherapy

One operation, two sessions of chemotherapy, the love of her family and the munificence of friends and strangers appear to be insufficient for a three-year-old girl fighting a fatal form of cancer.

Now she has entered the third stage of hypogastric cancer and will experience greater pain and dysfunction as the tumor grows and presses against her internal organs, say doctors at the Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics, who are well aware that only 30 percent of patients recover from the rare disease.

Without proper treatment, she will probably die within a few months, but Ha’s family cannot afford it as all they have is their small house in the village of Kim Lien.

Her struggling parents, who make just VND30,000 (US$1.72) a day from harvesting salt, are the sole breadwinners of their seven-member household, which includes two of Ha’s grandparents and her two siblings aged 18 months and five years.

“We’ve raised her for this long, how can I let her go?” cries Ha’s father Hung. “But what can we do now? It’s all up to fate.”

Is there hope?

After some benefactors reached into their pockets and pooled $1,700, Ha underwent surgery in January at the Vietnam-German Hospital in Hanoi. However, the surgeons could only remove 70 percent of the tumor as it had spread into her intestine.

Ha was then moved to K2 Hospital, which specializes in cancer treatment. In the subsequent three weeks, the remaining tumor grew rapidly, swelling her stomach to twice its normal size and making it hard and bruised.

The doctors decided on chemotherapy, despite being worried about the possible side effects. After two sessions, Ha’s tumor has shrunk by a third, but the danger has not passed and more sophisticated treatment is needed urgently.

Ha’s sponsors are visiting her at least once a week and doing things like cooking her favorite cooking.

Others are frantically doing the paperwork to get Ha admitted as a charity case to the famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, US in case she deteriorates beyond the ability of Vietnamese doctors.

If you would like to help Ha and her family, please contact Mr. Ho Van Hung at: Team 1, Kim Lien Village, Dien Kim Commune, Dien Chau District, Nghe An Province; Tel: 84-0169 665 1273.

Source: Thanh Nien