Help Vinh Ky Battle Blood Cancer

Vinh Ky is only 13 year old boy with newly diagnosed blood cancer (acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, high risk) undergoing intensive chemotherapy. His treatment will be for two years, including intensive chemotherapy for about one year. The hospital bill will be more than 200,000 Singapore dollar but the household income is only 600 SGD monthly. Please help raise this fund to help Vinh Ky fight for Leukaemia.

From Vinh Ky's mother:

My name is Bich Minh, Vinh Ky's mother. We live with my husband and 9-year-old deaf daughter from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. My husband is the sole breadwinner of the family and I am a housewife. Our household's monthly income is only about 600 SGD.

My son Vinh Ky is a smart, gentle, sensitive boy who loves animals. He enjoys baking, swimming, playing roller derby and assembling models of robots that he displays around the house. On 20 Nov 2023, we noticed that he was experiencing frequent tiredness, headaches, dizziness, paleness and had unexplained bruises on his body. and took him to Haemotology Hospital 2, Binh Chanh for examination.

At the hospital, they did blood tests and discovered that the white blood cell count was high (about 96,000), and the platelets and red blood cells counts were lower than normal. His blood flow has also decreased. We later learned that he was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) on 20 Nov 2023 at the hospital.

I had felt emotionally and mentally overwhelmed, not knowing what caused it and what I could do. But I knew that my son was relying on me as his mother, I had to be strong, hold back my tears and support Vinh Ky in getting medical intervention immediately.

The doctors at the hospital told me there was nothing they could do for my son. The city lacks chemotherapy drugs so they cannot treat him. The alternative is a bone marrow transplant, a procedure that is both risky and expensive. Furthermore, Vinh Ky could not do a bone marrow transplant right away because it is a procedure with many complicated steps. Every day that treatment is delayed means another day that cancer cells increase in my son's body, but in Vietnam we don't have any solution yet.

I realised that my country's healthcare system is still limited and lacking in the necessary medications that are needed for the chemotherapy drugs, because they are too expensive to manufacture. So if we had wanted these drugs, we had to import them from foreign hospitals, which is also very costly and time consuming to purchase and ship them over.

After discussing with my husband, we decided to contact friends who might have connections with hospitals abroad for cancer treatment. We were recommended to go to Singapore for treatment and had a contact person to contact. With the minimum savings we had, and whatever money family and friends could help, I went with Vinh Ky to Singapore to seek help and hope.

We were fortunate to be introduced to sister Anh, who helped us a lot in finding accommodation in Singapore and getting to know this city we had never been to. She also introduced us to another Vietnamese family whose child had previously been diagnosed with cancer. They have been kindly helping us with food and giving us emotional support.

Vinh Ky started treatment on 15 December 23. To save costs, he refused to use sedation during the painful intrathecal injection of one of the chemotherapy drugs, the process of inserting the drug into the spinal cavity. He also experienced many side effects, such as hair loss, headaches, mood changes, acne, and insomnia. These physical changes and discomfort affected his mental and emotional health, exacerbating his feelings of loss and sadness as he was separated from his friends and family. He also struggled with feelings of guilt for causing financial strain on his family to treat him and feared the treatment would fail, leading to a waste of money.

Vinh Ky was receiving outpatient treatment through the month of Dec 23. However, on 9 Jan 24, he was detected with abnormal sodium level and there were concerns of possible asymptomatic seizures. His liver functioning also appeared affected, and he is still hospitalised as of 18 Jan 24. The latest results showed that he was infected with CMV virus, which contributed to elevated liver enzymes level and persistent fever throughout his hospitalisation. However, he has currently recovered adequately and can be discharged soon. He will continue his second phase of treatment from 25 Jan 24.

My son is a sensitive and intelligent boy who cares very much about his younger sister and his family. Despite the pain and sadness he is going through now, he continues to bravely endure the treatment and yearns for a speedy recovery. He dreams of eventually having his own small bakery, baking cakes and pastries such as cupcakes, cat's tongue, and flan to sell. He also hopes to adopt small stray animals and provide them with a safe shelter. He hopes to eventually travel with his younger sister to places that she wants to go to.

We spent 21,000,000 VND for initial consultation on Vinh Ky's condition at Vietnam's hospitals. On 10 Jan 2024, they informed that I have to pay SGD 30,008.16. This is only for the first month's treatment, and it is estimated that he will need at least 1 year of treatment in Singapore. Thus far, I have only been able to pay SGD 9,560. Vinh Ky still has many rounds of chemotherapy to be done and I am unsure what the eventual total cost may be. We are also paying about 900 SGD per month for a rented room in Singapore and have spent about 960 SGD on travel and food expenses in just one month.

As the hospital is unable to determined the total cost of the treatment due to the ever changing treatment they are giving to my son, the goal set here is only temporary, and we will update as and when there's new treatment cost.

Our friends and family gave us emotional support and encouragement, but they were limited in their financial ability to help due to their family commitments. We ran out of solutions to pay our bills and living expenses.

I would like to ask for your generosity to donate and help my son.

All funds raised will be managed by Give.asia and pay directly to the hospital for my son's treatment.