Abu Dhabi: The mother of a young cancer-stricken Abu Dhabi woman has said the window of opportunity to treat her is closing fast even as a match has been found for a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant (BMT).
Filipina Rosalie Masinas said a long-awaited BMT donor match has finally been found in Sweden for her leukaemia-afflicted daughter Sarah, 20. But the family is unable to arrange the procedure due to a lack of funds.
Leukaemia is an often fatal cancer of the blood cells. Masinas said Sarah’s BMT is expected to cost Dh600,000 to Dh800,000.
The Filipina phone operator said she has managed to raise about Dh40,000 by selling custom-made cancer-awareness T-shirts and another Dh50,000 from contributions.
“There’s no option for BMT in the UAE and we’re trying to get Sarah treated in either of two hospitals in India or Singapore authorised to accept the match from Sweden and carry out the BMT.
“We’re waiting for a quotation from them but we can’t do anything as there’s no money,” Masinas said.
“Doctors say time is running out, Sarah needs help as soon as possible. Her life’s at risk. She’s on chemotherapy and the effects of that are too strong. Sarah has to be on chemo until she gets her BMT and I’m worried how this will affect her vital organs.”
Sarah was diagnosed with leukaemia in late 2010 after travelling to her home city of Manila for college studies. Her dreams of a career in radiology were cut short by the deadly disease.
Sarah says in an open letter: “I was chatting online with my mother when I told her, ‘no need to spend more for my treatment, I got leukaemia. You’ll drown in debt, but I may still die’.
“My mother cried and said, ‘No, we’ll not lose you. We’ll get you back here in Abu Dhabi and you’ll be treated here.’”
Sarah initially overcame leukaemia after receiving chemotherapy at an Abu Dhabi hospital in Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in 2011. But the debilitating illness returned earlier this year and she was readmitted to the SKMC facility.
