4-year-old 'warrior' overcomes cancer

Quang Ngai Baby Co, 4 years old, spent 8 months fighting metastatic stage 4 neuroblastoma, now miraculously recovered after a stem cell transplant.

From a weak and exhausted little girl, Co can now run, jump, and play with her peers. On the day her daughter was discharged from the hospital, the small 40 square meter house of Nguyen Thi Tra Nhi and her husband echoed with laughter.

"Since the baby received the 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 2023, baby Co suddenly had anorexia, indigestion, nausea, and abdominal pain. The doctor prescribed medication to treat bloating, but it did not improve. A few days later, the baby had swollen lymph nodes in her neck. Doctors at Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital discovered she had stage 4 neuroblastoma with lymph node metastasis, 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 the nerve cells outside the brain, nerve tissue near the cervical spine, chest, abdomen or pelvis, often found 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 the lymph nodes (small, bean-shaped organs that help fight infection), the liver, lungs, bones, and bone marrow (the red, spongy tissue inside large bones).

"It was like the sky was falling," the mother recounted her feelings when the doctor told her her child had cancer. The child was treated at Children's Hospital 2 in Ho Chi Minh City, using a combination of methods including surgery, high-dose chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation, and then radiotherapy. Co received chemotherapy for 10 days at a time, a 9-cycle regimen. Her skinny arms were covered with IV injections. The chemicals caused her to lose sleep, lose her appetite, vomit constantly, and her body became increasingly pale.

The doctor advised stem cell transplantation - the last resort to help the child survive, because if only palliative care is provided, the child's life expectancy will be short. Stem cell transplantation helps to completely destroy cancer cells, regenerate healthy cells, the child's illness will go into remission 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, sterile room is not covered by health insurance. This therapy can only be performed at centers with good technical equipment and facilities, including stem cell harvesting machines, stem cell storage facilities, and standard stem cell transplant rooms (special rooms with air filtration systems). The medical team must be trained and experienced in the field of stem cell transplants. This is a barrier to treatment for poor families in general and Nhi and her husband in particular.

Nhi is a housewife, her husband works to support the family, but his job is unstable, his income is low, not enough to cover living expenses. They do not have enough money to pay for their child's treatment.

In February this year, baby Co was fortunate to receive support from the Hope Sun program (Hope Fund - VnExpress) to cover the cost of stem cell transfusion to prevent distant metastasis of cancer. On February 21, the patient began the stem cell transplant. After the indicators stabilized, the baby was discharged from the hospital and cared for at home.

Children being treated at the hospital. Photo: Provided by the character — Children being treated at the hospital. Photo: *Provided by the character*

Back home, baby Co was happier because she had many relatives around, but her health was still weak, she could not walk, had pain all over her body, and often vomited. Many nights, the baby cried because of stomachache and headache. Nhi tried to take care of her meals, sleep, playtime and reading stories to help her forget the pain.

On March 20, one month after the stem cell transplant, Co was much healthier and could play with his friends. Test results showed that there were no more malignant cells in his body. Next, he will receive radiation therapy when his health returns to normal.

According to doctors, stem cell transplants are often the most difficult stage for children. They need to receive strong chemotherapy, stay in a special isolation room, and family members must ensure sterility to avoid outside infection. Children must supplement nutrition due to increased fatigue, loss of appetite, diarrhea, malnutrition, and weight loss.

Looking back on the past 8 months, Nhi confided that "it was like a dream". Going to the hospital and seeing many children with serious illnesses, requiring treatment 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 aim of lighting up the faith of children with cancer, Hope Foundation in collaboration with Mr. Sun launched the Hope Sun program. Another joint effort from the community is another ray of light sent to the future generation of the country. Readers can see the program information here.

Thuy Quynh

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