Philippine Self-Help Foundation
This is an extract from an email that Ireen wrote to Richard to let him know the sad news that John had died. John had suffered from leukemia and PSHF was helping with his treatment.
" I am sorry I was not able to relay last night’s sad news.
Helma called me to relay that John Mejio passed away yesterday evening.
The parents did not bring John to the hospital last Friday despite the boy having a nosebleed.
Yesterday in the late afternoon he vomited blood; sadly the Mejios were adamant not to bring him to the hospital. John cried as he did not want to go the hospital. According to Helma, the boy refused as he does not like too many needles inserted in him by the nurses.
Countless times, I have pleaded with them to come back but they refused.
John's tummy started to bloat in early October but the parents were convinced by hearsay that chemo treatment will not heal their son. Many times Helma too convinced them to seek treatment but they just refused.
Melinda Abad’s message to them that John’s case was curable as Andrew (Melinda’s son) had that too when he was 5 years old but there was no reaction to that. Very sad, the only comfort in his remaining period was that when he was discharged in the last week of August, for a week, he was quite happy, running around and playing with cousins. He didn’t look sick by then so his parents were convinced that he was okay.
Last night’s follow up call was impossible as we couldn’t hear each other. Heavy rains at her end. "
Ireen
Extracts from Ireen's original proposal for John Arnie.
" It was in early July when John started to complain of stomach pain and his mother Analyn thinking it was just an ordinary stomach ache applied liniment hoping it would go away. However as the weeks passed, Analyn noticed John’s stomach had become bloated, he was getting pale and was always feeling tired to the point that he quit attending school. He grew weaker by the day until the time came when he could barely walk.
John Arnie is the youngest in a farming family of six. His parents, Arnel and Analyn, are farm labourers each earning an average of 750 pesos ($12) a week. Aside from their combined daily wages, the Mejio couple also earn quite a significant income from harvests of sugarcane and corn planted on their one hectare farm. They keep enough food for home consumption and sell the rest.
When Helma, our newly hired field worker (also the sister of Arnel), informed me of John’s worrying medical condition, I immediately requested a project advance. On the 18th of July, John was examined by a doctor and laboratory tests were done. Results revealed an unusual blood disorder; he was then referred to a Haematologist in Silliman Medical Center in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental’s capital.
Fortunately, I was in town on the 4th of August and I accompanied John and his parents to see a doctor. The tests revealed that he had an abnormal count in both red and white blood cells. Analyn was told that her son had to be hospitalised immediately. That same day a bone marrow test was done and John received blood transfusions to increase his platelets and haemoglobin.
Four days later, I went back to the hospital to accompany Analyn to see the hemotologist for the interpretation of the bone marrow test results. She was dismayed to learn that her worst fears had been realised - her son was suffering from a cancer of the blood.
This kind of blood cancer known as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia requires three years of treatment; fortunately the prognosis is good for children of John’s age. He will need many sessions of chemotherapy as well as blood transfusions at regular intervals. After three years, he will need a further five years of close monitoring to prevent a relapse. "
Ireen O. Ingles
August 2023