4-Year-Old Girl Suffering From Rare Cancer Requires Over S$600K For Medical Bills
It can be difficult to watch loved ones suffer as a result of a serious illness.
Unfortunately, this has been the case for the parents of 4-year-old Tiffany Jocelyn.
Source: GIVE.asia
She suffers from a rare blood cancer and complications from failed surgeries resulted in burns and peeling skin.
As her medical bill has now risen to over S$600,000, her parents are seeking donations to help with the costs.
4-year-old girl receives cancer diagnosis
In their crowdfunding page on GIVE.asia, Tiffany’s parents said she was diagnosed with juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia (JMML) type NF1 in March 2020.
A type of rare blood cancer that affects young children, it can result in a very low platelet but high white blood count.
Source: GIVE.asia
They wanted to bring her to Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) in Malaysia for treatment but couldn’t do so due to pandemic restrictions.
Over time, Tiffany’s health grew worse and she contracted hepatomegaly and splenomegaly, leading to an enlarged liver and spleen respectively. In addition, she developed red maculopapular rashes all over her body.
Two years after the diagnosis, they could finally bring her to SJMC. She went through several rounds of chemotherapy and doctors prepared her for a bone marrow transplant from a donor in Taiwan.
However, the chemotherapy caused Tiffany to develop multiple complications. This included swollen eyes, high fevers, anus infections, and allergies.
Eventually, she had to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Girl with cancer suffers complications
In August 2022, Tiffany was finally able to undergo a bone marrow transplant.
Unfortunately, the operation caused her to have a high fever and diarrhoea for two weeks and eventually failed as it could not engraft.
Her cancer also remained and her spleen grew in size.
Source: GIVE.asia
Alongside continuous blood transfusions, Tiffany had to receive irradiation treatment for her body and another chemotherapy session for her second bone marrow transplant.
The operation occurred in November 2022, giving rise to graft versus host disease (GvHD), which included symptoms such as high fever and diarrhoea.
The fever caused her to sustain fits and the diarrhoea resulted in painful cramps, requiring morphine for more than three weeks.
In January this year, more GvHD symptoms affected her skin and stomach.
She began suffering from burns, bleeding, and peeling skin all over her body. The left side of her brain, ear, nose, throat, and mouth became inflamed as well.
Source: GIVE.asia
She was unable to get up, sit, speak, or fully turn her head to the left and was bedridden for a month.
Needs funds to cover costs in NUH
The doctor in SJMC eventually recommended a transfer to the National University Hospital (NUH) in Singapore for further treatment.
According to Tiffany’s mother, the treatment for GvHD is estimated to cost around S$300,000 to S$350,000.
Furthermore, the bone marrow transplant afterwards will cost at least S$300,000.
Source: GIVE.asia
With how much they’ve already spent on all the treatments in Malaysia, Tiffany’s family is finding it difficult to cover the costs in Singapore.
“My husband had to borrow money from his relatives and siblings, and we sold our properties and belongings to cover bill payments in SJMC,” explained Tiffany’s mother, who states that she is from Indonesia in her GIVE.asia profile.
Her husband runs a small business in their hometown, but the income is hardly enough to pay for treatment.
They have also been away from their second daughter in their hometown since March 2022.
“We are still unable to return to our normal routine until now,” the mother shared, adding that they’ve had to sacrifice their time, job, and home because of this ordeal.
They will need at least S$600,000 to afford the bone marrow transplant and GvHD treatment for Tiffany.
Source: GIVE.asia
At the time of writing, Tiffany’s parents have managed to raise over S$180,000 of their S$670,000 goal.
Interested donors can make a donation here.
We hope that little Tiffany is able to get all the treatments she needs and that they will be successful.
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Featured image adapted from GIVE.asia.
