Teen battling cancer needs P98K for chemo

Chan Jason Mirabete

In July 2016, 17-year-old Chan Jason Mirabete’s left arm started to swell. His parents initially thought that it was just muscle pain that would eventually disappear with massage.

“After one month, it got bigger so we decided to bring him to a hospital in Legazpi City. The doctor diagnosed his condition as osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer,” Chan’s father, Crisanto, told the Inquirer.

The doctor, however, did not have the necessary medical supplies to treat the teenager and referred him instead to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

To make sure that his son got the treatment he needed, Crisanto and his family left Sto. Domingo, Albay province, and moved in with a relative in Quezon City last September.

Chan underwent chemotherapy but although the first and second sessions reduced the swelling on his left arm, he could no longer use it.

Doctors also advised the family to have the arm amputated to prevent the cancer from spreading to the teenager’s heart.

“On my part, it meant prolonging his own life so I did not have second thoughts about giving my consent to have his arm cut. I told him: ‘It’s just your arm that you will lose, not your dreams.’ He might just become the first policeman with one arm doing office work,” Crisanto said.

With six chemotherapy sessions completed, Chan has only two more to go. The last two, each one costing P49,000, have been scheduled on May 24 and June 14.

“May we appeal to your readers to help us shoulder my son’s medical expenses? May God shower them with more blessings,” Crisanto, who works as a laborer to support his family, said.

He can be reached at 09168859323. Donations for Chan’s chemotherapy expenses may be deposited in his father’s Eastwest bank account (Crisanto Mirabete/ account # 200020458908).