Commonly New Year’s Eve is accompanied through
fanfare and celebration in anticipation of a better year. For 13-year-old Amal Guan,
but, that night in 2017 no longer best ushered in a new year, but additionally
released a perilous war with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) that almost took
her life. Up until that fateful night, Amal had been quite healthy, regardless
of a delayed diagnosis two years in advance of Asperger’s syndrome, a form of
autism characterized by attention, learning and socialization problems.
"On December 31, 2017, I got a high fever and
turned into listless, at first, we thought it is probably the flu, however, the next
day we knew I needed to take to the hospital, my trip to the emergency
room at local hospital of Sudan ended
in a ten-day inpatient hospitalization. At that point, there have been numerous
questions as to why 75% of my bone marrow was destroyed. It was postulated that
an endemic of unknown origin had attacked my bone marrow. I returned home and
felt much better until late March when I became extremely ill. Local children’s
hospital hematologist diagnosed me as having AML, which is considered the most
lethal type of leukemia because of its aggressiveness.
My doctor immediately initiated a treatment regimen
involving five different chemotherapy agents. The chemo seemed to be helping me
AML, but I developed multiple grave complications, including sepsis and a
life-threatening gastrointestinal bleed. Entirely exasperated by all the futile
efforts, my parents finally decided to look out for the best hospital outside Sudan,
while searching on the internet, we came across the website of India cancer surgery
service. Instantly, a query was posted on the India cancer surgery site and a case manager called them to assist
further. The case manager took reports and shared us with some of the best
hematologists in India, after which the opinion of some of the topmost
hematologists in India was dispensed to us. Consequently, after going via the opinions
in detail, we selected to get my treatment done by Dr. Rahul Bhargava is
presently the director of hematology, pediatric hematology-oncology &
bone marrow at the fortis hospital, Gurgaon. Soon, with the assistance of the case
supervisor, the paperwork was finished and I arrived in India along with my
parents and my appointment was prefixed with best hemato oncologist in
India Dr. Rahul Bhargava, he took a meticulously listened to my case history and
did a physical examination and ordered the required investigations.
Chemotherapy wasn’t enough for me. I would need a
transplant. As I was the only child of my parents, there wasn’t an option for a
biological match with a sibling or parent. And because of my ethnicity, there was
less chance of a perfect donor match. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to
discover a donor match for me and it was a six out of six fits, which is the highest
for cord blood. I immediately underwent my bone marrow transplantation at
Fortis Hospital, Gurgaon under the care of the best hemato oncologist in India Dr. Rahul Bhargava.
I experienced side effects from treatment, including
losing hair, nausea and weight loss, from chemotherapy. In total, I received
three rounds of chemo plus full-body radiation. From the transplant, I
developed sores in my mouth and experienced fatigue. I came through all of
that! After a week in India, we returned home to Sudan, pleased with the
improvements in my conditions. Now more than ever I am looking forward to seeing a better life ahead, I carry on advice by Dr. Rahul Bhargava and the medication
prescribed.
Indiacancer surgery service has helped us a lot during my treatment course in India;
they presented me with all of the information which I should know regarding the specialists
in India, treatment quotes and success during our first interactions that we
had. Their devoted help is commendable and I wish them all of the good luck.”
Thanking you,
Amal Guan
From Sudan
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