Since her daughter contracted blood cancer, Ms. Ha Thi Dinh (born in 1984)'s life has almost revolved around the hospital rooms at the National Children's Hospital. The poor mother from Quynh Pau village, Chieng Mung commune, Son La province, still silently accompanies her youngest daughter Luong Thi Thanh Ha (11 years old) every day in the journey of fighting blood cancer.
Previously, Ms. Dinh was attached to the fields to earn a living. She built a family with Mr. Luong Van Chom (born in 1972), then the two of them worked in the fields, the income of the whole family was only enough to cover living expenses. Since her daughter contracted a serious illness, Ms. Dinh was forced to quit all work to follow her child to the hospital, all economic burdens fell on her husband's shoulders.
Ms. Dinh's family has three children. The two eldest children, Vi Van Khai (born in 2004) and Vi Thu Hoai (born in 2006), both dropped out of school early to help the family. Khai currently lives with his paternal grandparents, while Hoai stays at home to help his parents manage housework, hoping to share some of the difficulties when his younger sister is being treated for illness.
According to Ms. Dinh, Thanh Ha was born healthy and grew up like any other child. She finished 4th grade and just entered the first months of 5th grade when the upheaval struck.
At the beginning of November 2025, Thanh Ha continuously had a high fever, body fatigue, and abdominal distension due to abnormally large liver and spleen. Worried, the family took her to Son La Provincial General Hospital for examination. After initial tests, doctors determined that the baby had a 90% risk of blood cancer and immediately transferred her to the National Children's Hospital on the same day.
Here, after many in-depth tests in the Emergency and Poison Control Department, doctors determined that Thanh Ha had acute leukemia at high risk. Two days later, she was transferred to the Oncology Department to begin chemotherapy.
When the doctor announced that my child had blood cancer, I was stunned. I just hoped it was a mistake. Seeing my child weaken day by day due to chemicals, many days my child could not sit up on his own, I just knew to hug my child and cry," the poor mother sobbed.
Thanh Ha's treatment process continuously encountered many complications. Doctors discovered that she had a tumor in the mediastinum near the heart, so she had to be closely monitored because of the risk of compression of the airway. There were times when she had prolonged fever, thrombocytopenia, severe anemia, and had to temporarily stop chemotherapy to treat complications.
In the first two months at the hospital, Thanh Ha was almost just lying on the hospital bed. Chemical treatments caused her to vomit, be exhausted, and unable to walk. When the disease became severe, she had to be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit for active monitoring. Each treatment course, the family had to spend nearly 20 million VND on specialized medicine outside, an amount exceeding the ability of a family living solely on fields.
Currently, each month the cost of treatment, medicine, food and transportation for Ms. Dinh and her child is up to 10 million VND. Each chemotherapy session, Thanh Ha may have to stay in the hospital for a whole month, be allowed to go home to rest for a few days and then continue to return to the hospital. All the money must be borrowed from relatives, neighbors and acquaintances.
What I fear most is not hardship, but that there will be times when I don't have money to continue treating my child. I just hope my child is healthy enough to overcome the illness and one day will be able to wear uniforms to school like his friends," Ms. Dinh said choked up.
Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Tong Van Hoa, Head of Quynh Pau village, Chieng Mung commune, Son La province, said that Ms. Ha Thi Dinh's family is in particularly difficult circumstances in the locality.
“Ahead of Ha is still a long journey of fighting against a dangerous disease. For a poor family in the highlands, her daughter suffering from blood cancer makes life even more difficult. The locality hopes that philanthropists and readers near and far will join hands to support so that the 11-year-old girl has the opportunity to continue treatment and nurture her dream of returning to school with friends one day,” Mr. Hoa shared.
All help for life situation LD26187 please send to Tam Long Vang Charity Social Fund - 51 Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem Ward, Hanoi. Account number (STK) 113000000758 at VietinBank Hoan Kiem Branch, Hanoi; Account number: 0021000303088 - at Vietcombank Hanoi Branch; Account number: 12410001122556 - at BIDV Hoan Kiem Branch.
