Mary Emily Duremdes
In August 2016, Mary Emily Duremdes was a 12-year-old, Grade 5 student at a school in Occidental Mindoro province when doctors found a tumor in her brain.
“She came home from school ahead of the dismissal period because she said her head ached and she had thrown up. The following day, she found it hard to get out of bed or even eat,” her mother, Emie, told the Inquirer.
Emie said she immediately took Mary Emily to the district hospital in San Jose town where initial findings pointed to stomach ulcer and urinary tract infection.
A CT scan, however, also showed fluid accumulating in her daughter’s brain. From San Jose, they went to several other hospitals before Mary Emily ended up at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
In the hospital, the young girl underwent an operation with doctors putting a shunt in her head to allow them to drain the fluid out.
“She became comatose and was given two days to recover. My prayers worked when she became responsive after a day,” Emie said.
To shrink her brain tumor, Mary Emily is undergoing chemotherapy at PGH. She has already completed four of the six sessions and will undergo the fifth one on March 4. Each session costs P34,000.
Emie Duremdes can be contacted at 0928-7163873. Donors can deposit their donation in her Landbank account number (0096-1482-40).