Help Arisha Overcome Hirschsprung's Disease

I am Md Rafiul Islam, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. I am currently fundraising for the medical treatment of Arisha, the daughter of a close friend of my wife. Please see below for more details about her situation.

Junaira Jafreen Arisha, a 5-year-old, is suffering from a congenital disease called "Hirschsprung's Disease (HD)." It is a birth defect in which nerves are missing from parts of the intestine. It occurs in about one in 5,000 newborns. Treatment is generally done by surgery to remove the affected section of the bowel, but the consequences of surgery are sometimes life-long complications.

History

Because of the doctors' negligence during the COVID pandemic, HD was detected late when she was almost 3 years old, though she had been under treatment and suffering a lot from her birth. Then, she went through 8 major surgeries in stages at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, in 2022-2023. Though she needed only 2 surgeries, which is very common for HD patients, she needed 6 more because of post-surgical complications.

She is also suffering from recurrent vomiting, abdominal migraine, ASD (Atrial Septal Defect), ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), and ptosis (droopy eyelid), which also need regular treatment.

Present Condition

Because of post-surgical complications, she has become a patient of recurrent vomiting. She has to be hospitalized and given IV fluid every 14 to 20 days for severe vomiting episodes. Not even a drop of water can she take during every episode of vomiting, which lasts for 5-7 days. She has been hospitalized almost 50 times so far.

Moreover, she had no benefit from the multiple surgeries; rather, she is currently unable to pass stool normally and must be given a rectal wash every day for the last 14 months. It's really painful and traumatic for the child. Doctors didn’t give any solution to make her pass stool normally like us.

Treatment Plan

After doing all kinds of tests and examinations by the departments of Pediatric Surgery, Neurology, Gastroenterology, Psychology, and Child Development at CMC, doctors failed to identify the reason behind her recurrent vomiting. Also, they are incompetent to do further treatment for the problem of stool passing.

So, as a last hope, her parents made contact with the doctors at Bangkok Hospital, Thailand. They advised her to be taken to Bangkok immediately and to stay there for at least 4 to 6 months for treatment. They want to examine her thoroughly and hope to get success finding out the actual reason behind vomiting. Also, they will do surgery if needed for the problem of intestine and rectum.

They have given an estimate of $1,20,000-1,30,000 or equivalent for treatment. But, in the meantime, her parents' life savings (more than $40,000)) have been spent on her treatment, and now their family is in big debt. Since it has become impossible for them to continue this expensive treatment on their own, they seek your financial support as their last hope to save the child from the continuous suffering she has faced for the last few years. If all of you come forward, you can give this child a normal and healthy life like all other children by the grace of the Almighty.