Leukemic teen asks for help

BORROMEO

DAPHNE Shyne Borromeo has good reason to smile these days. After being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2011, the 15-year-old is on her way to getting better.

“We’re done with the chemo-therapy. We’re at the ‘exit stage’,” Jacquelin Borromeo, Daphne’s 37-year-old mother, told the Inquirer.

According to her, Daphne’s condition has improved to the point where doctors at the Philippine General Hospital have recommended that she undergo bone marrow aspiration. The procedure involves taking a sample from the soft tissue inside the bones. The results will show whether the teenager has completely beaten the disease or needs to undergo further treatment.

Despite her ailment, Daphne has not stopped going to school at the Silahis ng Kalusugan School for Chronically Ill Children at PGH although she lives in Rodriguez, Rizal.

“Considering the distance, it was quite difficult for her. But there were times she was excused from school. She will be in Grade 8 this coming school year,” Jacquelin said.

She is appealing, however, for help because the bone marrow aspiration—to be done at the National Kidney Transplant Institute—will cost P10,000 which she and her husband Marlon, a construction worker, cannot raise by themselves.

Jacquelin Borromeo can be reached at 0943-4784838. Donations can be deposited in her BPI account (#5846-3579-22). Santiago R. Alcantara