Girl, 16, needs bone marrow transplant

Ma. Beatriz Liwanag, 16, has acute myelogenous leukemia, a type of cancer that can cut her life short if she does not have a bone marrow transplant soon.

Her mother, Dolores Liwanag, wrote The STAR to ask for financial assistance to help pay P2 million in hospital bills and at least $100,000 for the bone marrow transplant in Taiwan.

"The news devastated my husband and myself and our other relatives... We could not believe that this could be happening to our eldest," Dolores said in a letter to STAR president and CEO Miguel G. Belmonte.

A bone marrow aspiration conducted on Jan. 21 confirmed that Bea, the eldest of four children, had a "very aggressive" form of acute myelogenous leukemia, according to hematologist Dr. Allan Racho.

Bea has had to undergo thrice-monthly chemotherapy treatments to prevent the cancer cells from overwhelming her system.

"In a matter of hours Bea’s life changed drastically, from quitting school, missing her prom and her friends, most especially facing the uncertainty of whether she will get better," Dolores said.

Dolores added that in spite of the fear and anxiety on her daughter’s face, Bea asked her only one question: "Will I live, Mom?"

"In spite of the pain I was feeling, I had to be strong and told Bea that we will have to be strong and trust in the Lord. With the grace of the Almighty, we will beat this disease," she said.

Bea’s parents had their three younger children tissue-typed as possible donors in the hope that the transplant can be done in the Philippines. None of Bea’s siblings were a perfect match.

Dolores said she tried her luck with the United States-based National Marrow Donor Program, which informed Racho that Bea had eight potential perfect matches among their donors. However, the transplant must be performed in a hospital that is a member of the NMDP consortium.

Dolores said they chose the Tzu Chi Foundation in Taiwan, which told them that the transplant cost is around $100,000, exclusive of airfare and board and lodging once Bea is out of the hospital. The foundation also said Bea will have to stay for at least six months in Taiwan after the transplant.

"At present, I am employed with a bank while my husband is a freelance insurance agent. We have three other children aged 14, 10 and seven. This situation is something we never expected or prepared for financially ... Our income is just sufficient to support the basic needs of our family," Dolores said.

Racho, in a telephone interview, stressed that Bea needs to have the transplant soon since "her leukemia is uncontrolled, resistant to treatment. It’s really very bad." Despite her monthly chemotherapy sessions, there has been no remission in her disease.

Bea’s doctors plan to put her on chemotherapy treatments again to kill off the fast-spreading cancer cells. Racho explained that with chemotherapy alone, the chance of cure is 30 percent or less. With the transplant, Bea’s chances of beating the disease goes up to 40 percent.

He said the bone marrow transplant need not necessarily be done in Taiwan, since the Asian Hospital and Medical Center has the doctors and the facilities to perform the operation.

"The requirement is for us to have the stem (or bone marrow) cells," Racho said, noting that doctors are dependent on the tissue compatibility of a leukemia patient’s siblings in order to perform a transplant because there is no bone marrow bank in the country.

He said the eight potential donors abroad still have to undergo confirmatory tests and bone marrow cells need to be harvested from the donor who is a perfect match. The cells will then have to be coursed through the Taiwan-based foundation before they are sent to the Philippines.

Each confirmatory test, called human leukocyte antigen matching, costs approximately $1,000 for each donor and the stem cell harvest costs $25,000. The transplant will cost P9 million if done in Taiwan and P2 million if done locally.

Donations may be directly sent to Bea through her account No. 1200066853 at Banco de Oro’s Herrera branch in Makati City.