Dave Matthew Lopez, who turned a year old in October, has biliary cirrhosis, a liver ailment more complicated than biliary atresia. The treatment for both illnesses, however, is a liver transplant.
According to Dave’s mother, Marissa Evalora, in biliary atresia, the condition of the liver is slowly deteriorating but in biliary cirrhosis, the organ is already damaged.
“Doctors at the Philippine General Hospital told me that if my baby’s illness is not attended to, he will only have two years to live. But if he undergoes a liver transplant, he has a 100 percent chance of survival,” she told the Inquirer in Filipino.
Marissa added that the father of her son, Melecio Lopez, works as a mechanic in Dubai. Although he earns a monthly salary of P25,000, every last centavo goes to his son’s medical expenses because almost every month, Matthew is in the hospital.
“He just finished his contract but he requested for an extension so that we would have money for our son’s medical bills,” she said.
However, the family is hard pressed to raise the P3 million needed for Matthew’s liver transplant.
“We are asking for help from your readers for the operation of our son in Taiwan,” Marissa said.
She can be reached at 8212387 and 0918-4849446. Her bank account number with Banco de Oro is 6020092924.