A 14-year-old girl from Barangay Unidos, Mutia, Zamboanga del Norte earnestly pleads for financial help as she presses on with her chemotherapy treatment.
Ejelyn Villa was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) last January 14, 2019. She was 13 years old that time. Unsettling symptoms like recurring fever, pain in the joints, easy fatigability, unusual paleness, and loss of appetite caused her parents to take her to a hospital in Dapitan City.
On February 28, 2019, she was again admitted at a hospital in Dipolog City. After that, she was transferred to a hospital in Cebu City. Seeking for specialized care, her parents chose to bring her to a hematologist-oncologist. A complete blood count was done and it revealed a low red blood cell and platelet count. Bone marrow aspiration was also carried out and the findings were consistent with her diagnosis.
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood in which the bone marrow produces too many immature lymphocytes
creating less room for healthy red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets thus leading to anemia, infection, and easy bleeding. This enfeebling disease is the most common type of cancer in children. Statistics have showed a high chance for cure if treated promptly with
intensive chemotherapy.
Ejelyn’s chemotherapy was started last April 2019. Her attending physician prescribed a three-year treatment protocol to attain complete healing. On August 2019, she had skin rashes which was an allergic reaction to her first high-dose chemotherapy session. She also experienced a mild stroke weakening one side of her body. As a result, she was admitted in the hospital for one month. On November 2019, her parents decided to go back home causing her treatment to stop. On January 2020, her treatment was once again restarted. She is currently undergoing re-induction phase of chemotherapy treatment.
“Ejel,” as she is fondly called by her family, is a loving and respectful girl. She is the second of the two siblings. Her father, who is the sole breadwinner of the family, works as a maintenance staff under the Department of Public Works and Highways and earns P453 per day. Her mother is a homemaker and cares for the whole family. Their family’s financial problems are increasing as Ejelyn’s chemotherapy commences once again. Because of the high cost and long duration of the treatment, the family is monetarily incapacitated and their funds are already exhausted. Hence, her family is earnestly asking for financial assistance from kind-hearted individuals to
help sustain Ejelyn’s treatment and help her fight the big C successfully.
Those who wish to donate may coordinate with Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko Foundation Inc. – Cebu at Room 210 Cebu City Health Building with contact numbers (032) 232-4706, 412-9020, and 0933-194-0197 or kindly deposit donations directly to Unionbank under account name Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko and account number 00-112-000066-2. Please indicate the name of the patient in the deposit slip.
