Every day, at the Department of Neurosurgery 2 (Viet Duc Friendship Hospital), doctors and nurses see familiar images: a little girl lying in her mother's arms, with a watery face, a white iceberg with a long, still dark red incision.
That is Dam Phuong Dung, 7 years old, in group 18, Nung Tri Cao ward, Cao Bang - a girl whose eyes have vinh vien lost the light after prolonged surgeries.
Childhood "steal" by illness
At an age when she was expected to be in school, learning the first letters of life and playing with friends, Dung's childhood was associated with the smell of pesticides, IV lines and severe headaches caused by a Pressured tumor. Every time the doctor changes the bandage, the child only grows weak for an hour and then lies still. The girl's willingness to accept and understand the situation made the other person even more choked up, unable to hold back her tears.
Dung is a Nung ethnic group, and her 6 years of childhood have passed on the journey to and from the hospital endlessly. The child was diagnosed with a scalp tumor, a rare and extremely complex disease.
Since he was very young, Dung has undergone 7 brain dilation and many cabbage surgeries. At times, it was thought that everything was temporarily fine, but recently the tumor re-merged. The child's body gradually weakened, his vision was completely lost, and his yanoid gland was no longer functioning normally.
Recently admitted to the hospital, the doctor said that the prognosis was extremely serious, forcing surgery to continue when the wound stopped leaking to have hope of maintaining life.
Hearing the upcoming surgery, Ms. Lanh Thi Thao - the baby's mother - burst into tears and hugged her child tightly: "My child is too young and has had to undergo too many surgeries. Now I just hope my child will be less sick, because with this disease, I don't know where to get money...".
Family exhausted after 6 years of fighting with children
Dung's family situation is extremely difficult. Her father works as a salesman with an unstable income. In addition to Dung, the family also takes care of their 70-year-old mother and a daughter in grade 10. When her child is seriously ill, Ms. Thao has to quit her job to be on duty with her child, especially since she lost her vision and could not do anything by herself.
Many years of treatment and accumulated loans have caused the family to almost run out. The child is supported with 1 million VND per month, but that amount is only like a "drop of water in the desert" compared to the cost of medicine, treatment, travel and long-term care. A small house in Cao Bang is no longer worth selling.
An officer of the Department of Social Work - Viet Duc Friendship Hospital said: The prolonged treatment and many surgeries have pushed the family into a deadlock, exhausted both financially and mentally.
The upcoming surgery is the only way to save the life of the 7-year-old girl who has lost her sight. However, the cost was beyond the family's ability. Phuong Dung is in need of community cooperation to continue treatment.
A child who should have been practicing writing every first letter of his life is now fighting the disease every day. And that journey could only continue if the benefactors were ready to support.
Any help for the case of LD25072 - child Dam Phuong Dung, 7 years old, in group 18, Nung Tri Cao ward, Cao Bang, please send to the Golden Heart Social Charity Fund - 51 Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi.
Account number (STK) 113000000758 at Vietinbank Hoan Kiem Branch, Hanoi; Contact number: 0021000303088 - at Vietcombank Hanoi Branch; Contact number: 12410001122556 - at BIDV Hoan Kiem Branch.
