9-Year-Old On Road To Recovery After Bone Marrow Transplant
By Liza Mohd

Bandar Seri Begawan - Nine-year-old Tham Shee Tin is happy to be back in Brunei after having safely undergone a bone marrow transplant last week at the National University Hospital (NUH) in Singapore, following a high risk of leukemia. She was diagnosed with childhood cancer on January 2005.

Being away from school for 22 months, Shee Tin is missing her friends and insists that her mother put her back to school immediately.

Her mother Kok Wan Hoi, 44, said depending on her daughter's recovery progress and doctor's consent in her next consultation in NUH on November 24, she could not wait for her youngest child to revert back to the normal routine life.

The illness came into light when Shee Tin complained of pain in her right arm.

Her parents then brought her to the government hospital where she was prescribed with antibiotics to ease the pain.

However the pain did not disappear, but spread to the other arm instead.

It was then followed by bouts of fever and appetite loss which led to her drastic weight loss.

The local hospital suspected that she could be suffering from leukemia as blood test results showed that her white blood cell count was high. Determined to obtain a second opinion due to the critical condition, Shee Tim and her mother flew to Singapore on January 9 last year.

At that point, the illness had taken a toll on her as she was unable to walk and had to be ushered on a wheelchair. Their worst fears came true when the doctor at NUH confirmed that she was suffering from a very high risk Philadelphia positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a common form of childhood cancer.

The doctor recommended that she undergo bone marrow transplant with chemotherapy which would cost them $200,000 over six months. At that time they had already used up their savings to pay for the hospital treatment fees and living expenses in Singapore.

Being a permanent resident, Shee Tin's parents are not eligible for therapy sponsored by His Majesty's government. Her parents earned a living as a bank employee and mechanic, so they could not afford to pay for the cost of the transplant as they needed to pay for their house mortgage and support their eldest son who was still studying in Australia.

Despite being told that Shee Tin only has thirty per cent chance of cure after transplant, it does not hamper their hopes.

"Shee Tin is on the route to recovery, thanks to those who generously made' the contribution. Without their financial support, we would not see Shee Tin smiling right now," said her parents. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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