Girl with leukemia needs more tests

MANILA, Philippines — A recurring toothache has been bothering Given Grace Evangelista and causing her mother, Jesusa, to worry about the 8-year-old girl, who is suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

“Given Grace said her tooth hurt last month. Then a few days ago, she said it was hurting again. We can’t bring her to the hospital because I don’t want to expose her to COVID-19,” Jesusa told the Inquirer recently.

Mother and daughter have not gone out of their house for the past months to protect Evangelista from the coronavirus. The young girl, however, needs to undergo several tests soon.

Doctors at Philippine Children’s Medical Center who have been in touch with Jesusa advised her to have her daughter undergo a complete blood count if her tooth aches again.

“They said that if the results were normal, we could have the decaying tooth extracted,” she said.

After Evangelista was diagnosed with leukemia in April 2015, she underwent chemotherapy for several years. She finished her last session in August last year.

Given Grace Evangelista

Doctors, however, continue to monitor her condition. She is required to undergo a bone marrow test every six months and a cytospin test every 90 days.

“I hope your readers can help us. We need P12,000 for the bone marrow test and P1,200 for the cytospin,” Jesusa said.

Her husband, Feliciano, works as a security guard for a beverage company a kilometer away from their house in Cabuyao, Laguna, but his salary is barely enough to support his family.

Jesusa can be reached at 0905-6537923. Donations can be deposited into Feliciano Evangelista’s PNB account (#0124-5310-0000-8794).