Sunday, October 28, 2007 RCWWD shares By Dr. Mae Concepcion J. Dolendo
JONGJONG is a typical 14-year-old boy who loves music and likes to spend time with his friends. He is tall for his age and thus chose basketball as his favorite sport.
Last year, he developed pain in his left thigh and noticed a slowly growing mass. He was diagnosed to have Ewing's sarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
Jongjong underwent chemotherapy and subsequently a special type of surgical amputation procedure called Van Ness rotationplasty at the Davao Medical Center.
The loss of his leg doused his dreams of a basketball career but it failed to stop his fighting spirit. The road towards cure is a long one for children with cancer like Jongjong.
Treatment for Ewing's sarcoma entails going to the hospital every three weeks for almost two years.
Jongjong lives in Cotabato and has to travel several hours just to get to the hospital for treatment. When he was first diagnosed, he lived in a cramped, uncomfortable room in Davao City which cost P3,000 a month to rent.
These expenses, together with the cost of chemotherapy and surgery are enormously high for his parents who are farmers.
Traveling from his home to the hospital was a painful ordeal for Jongjong -- until House of Hope was built.
The House of Hope is a transient home for children with cancer while undergoing outpatient chemotherapy or awaiting admission for the next course of treatment.
This is a project of the Rotary Club of Waling Waling Davao (RCWWD), who saw the need to provide a home and a healing environment for the children to help them fight cancer.
What used to be an old, abandoned and dilapidated dorm was transformed into a beautiful home for the children. The House of Hope provides a place to rest and recuperate. The children and their parents can stay there for free which saves them money to buy food and chemotherapy medicines therefore increasing their chances for cure.
It is a stone's throw from the hospital. There is no need to pay for transportation. A child can easily come for treatment appointment. Unnecessary stay in the ward is drastically decreased and there are lesser chances to get infection.
An infection in an immuno-compromised child with cancer, kills.
The children can sleep in comfortable wooden beds as well as eat warm nutritious meals. There is a place where kids can play and a garden where parents can sit and bond together. Indeed, House of Hope brings treatment of childhood cancer into higher and whole new dimensions.
Cancer is a formidable enemy. However, cure is possible. In countries like the US and Singapore, survival rates for children with cancer average about 75-80 percent.
This is due to excellent holistic multidisciplinary care and adherence to treatment protocols. Unfortunately, in countries with limited resources like the Philippines, only 10-20 percent of children survive due to poverty and treatment abandonment.
The House of Hope provides a lifeline for the Filipino child with cancer in Mindanao. Jongjong and many other children like him can now have a better chance to fight cancer.
The House of Hope is an RCWWD project where Rotarians not only share but lead the way in providing excellent holistic care for the indigent children and their families.
