After losing daughter, mom worries about son with same illness

Jimboy Padua

MANILA, Philippines — Shirley Padua broke down in tears when she remembered Daisy, her daughter who passed away due to complications from beta thalassemia on May 12 this year. Her other child, Jimboy, is battling the same ailment as well.

Twenty-two-year-old Jimboy will be in Grade 11 this school year and hopes to be a computer programmer when he finishes his studies. He was diagnosed with the blood disorder in December 2000 at Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC).

He was only two years old when he showed symptoms, becoming pale and feverish. A blood test at PCMC showed that he had a low hemoglobin count while an electrophoresis at National Kidney and Transplant Institute confirmed he was suffering from beta thalassemia.

Since then, Jimboy must undergo a transfusion of a bag of type B+ blood every three weeks at PCMC. If his hemoglobin count becomes too low, he will need two bags of blood, each one costing P3,000.

Asked about his sister’s passing, Jimboy became emotional. “I was very sad because she is the only sibling I have and I lost her,” he said.

Jimboy was supposed to have a blood transfusion on Sept. 1 but the procedure had to be canceled because of the many COVID-19 cases at the hospital. As a result, he experienced chest pains while the oxygen level in his body dipped.

Padua said her son must also undergo chelation every day, as advised by his doctor, to remove the excess iron from his heart and bloodstream. His medicines for chelation are deferiprone, which is taken orally, and deferoxamine, three vials of which must be injected into his abdomen.

But Jimboy can take his medication only three times a week due to the lack of money, his mother said. A box of deferoxamine costs P5,000 while deferiprone is P13,000 per bottle (100 tablets).

Padua earns around P500 to P600 a week as a seamstress. She works from home, with the permission of her boss, to care for Jimboy. Her husband, on the other hand, is a bus conductor who earns P10,000 a month. Their joint income can barely cover their son’s medications costing P127,500 monthly, she said.

“After I lost my daughter, it has not left my mind that both of my children have the same ailment and I am overcome by fear. Whenever Jimboy feels unwell, I borrow money and I rush him to the hospital,” she said.

But she remains hopeful she will have more time with her son, saying, “Whenever I hear Mass, I ask God to lend him for a long time because he is the only child I have left.”

Donations for Jimboy’s medical expenses can be deposited to BDO account (0045 1111 2404) of Padua’s uncle, Edgar S. Torio. Padua can be contacted at 0923-6105280.