After transplant, teen still needs aid

Seventeen-year-old Mharick Deniel Inobaya, the only child of Frederick and Marife Inobaya, underwent a kidney transplant five years ago. According to the doctors at the National Kidney Transplant Institute who operated on him, the early deterioration of his kidney may have been caused by the delayed development of his vital organs due to an imbalance as well as his failure to increase his water intake. To keep his body from rejecting his new kidney, Mharick has been taking two maintenance medicines, Prograf (taken thrice a day) and Cellcept (once a day), which cost P220.50 and P133.75, respectively. In a year, his family spends around P287,000 for his medication alone. “We have been staying with my wife’s parents in Nagcarlan, Laguna province, after we sold our own house to pay off my son’s hospital bills. Thank God, I still have my job as a lineman for a power company,” said Frederick who works in Manila and goes home every weekend to his family. He added that he and his wife would be grateful for any help extended by Inquirer readers to his son. Frederick can be reached at 0947-5879448. He has a BPI bank account (#3329-1706-07) for those who want to donate money for Mharick’s medical expenses. Santiago R. Alcantara