Updates on my niece, AJ

Written by Zhey Chua |Posted on March 23, 2009 | Comments

saturday_3_212 We got to the children’s hospital along Banawe Street in Quezon City on Saturday afternoon. I opened the door and my niece’s aunt from her mother’s side of the family was lying on the bench asleep. I woke her up and asked for a face mask. I had to firmly set my feet where I stood because I wanted so badly to run to my niece and just give her a tight hug and hundreds of kisses. She was on the hospital bed wrapped in blue blanket and she looked up to me and greeted me with a weak smile and an equally weak, “Tita…”. I wanted to burst into tears.

Wearing a face mask, I approached her and gave her a kiss, talked to her, asked her how she is doing and tried my ‘bestest’ to be brave. She told me her bones ached because her bone marrow had to be removed the day before and she just finished her 6th bag of blood transfusion. She showed me where her IV had been before doctors had to transfer it to her right hand, she showed me the needle marks and her bruises, she was also complaining of pains and dizziness. I checked her feet and they were almost ice-cold so I tucked them in. That was the most difficult one hour of my life, I tried to breathe normally but was really having a hard time because the tears were on the verge of seeping out of my ducts and I had to concentrate on not making them fall. I joked lightly from time to time, telling her to get some strength and we would paint the town red. She would smile half-smiles and the knife cutting through my heart would twist painfully each time.

Warren then sat beside her and with a very unusual pitch, started evangelizing. I can feel how heavy hearted he was, and judging from the tone of his voice, he too was about to cry. He struggled to finish preaching the gospel, I watched him take in gulps of air so he could at least breathe comfortably, his feet were drumming the floor and his arms were flailing wildly infront of him. When he was about to finish, I tapped him on the shoulder and told him I will continue. He moved to the other chair and I sat down, held my niece and summarized everything that Warren told her – sin, cross, Christ, faith, repentance, salvation, eternal life. Tears fell from my eyes and my niece started crying too.

We left the hospital and as soon as we were inside the car, I just exploded. I cried my eyes out and I begged the Lord to save her soul.

On Sunday, we returned and she was in better shape than yesterday. Her fever’s down and there are no more aches. She was smiling a full happy smile when she greeted me. They were feeding her apples for breakfast and she was just about to finish her 4th bag of blood transfusion when we got there. No more blanket, she was her usual happy self. She even treated me and Warren to funny stories about their recently held Junior-Senior Prom. She was giggly and just laughing out loud and my heart danced a happy dance, of course. After awhile, she asked to be brought to the loo and after that she sat up on the bed to watch tv.

We left the hospital with memories of her laughing and up on the bed watching Gossip Girl (I could not protest!). I know that she is not stable and we won’t know for sure if she’s on her way to recovery or not until after her sixth chemotherapy session but we remain hopeful. Six sessions of chemotherapy, that’s about six more months of time… Maybe we can buy more. Who knows.

According to my brother (her dad), AJ’s condition has worsened because from CML, it now borders on progressing to AML or Acute Myeloid Leukemia. I am only familiar with CML so doing a quick research yesterday on AML, I found out that it is the most common acute leukemia and is a relatively curable disease. AML is characterized by the “ rapid proliferation of abnormal cells which accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells”. It is treated with chemotherapy to induce remission and other patients undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplant, a medical procedure wherein blood stem cells derived from the blood or from the bone marrow are transplanted. Like most cancers, it can be fatal if left untreated within weeks or months. (Source: Wikipedia)

Here are more pictures from the hospital:

On Saturday, AJ was feverish and felt cold. In this photo, she was telling me her bones ached and she was showing me her needle-marks.

Her doctor gave her a quick visit just before we left the hospital on Saturday afternoon.

sunday On Sunday morning, AJ was able to sit up on her bed to watch the nurses as they inject antibiotics on her IV.

This is what helps keep her nourished for now.

A nurse injects some antibiotics on an IV tube

A better looking AJ just before we left the hospital on Sunday

Brethren, at this point may we, Warren and I and in behalf of my family, ask for your prayers for AJ’s physical recovery, but most of all, for her spiritual healing. Please help us in begging for the Lord’s mercy on her soul.