When Mr. K was first diagnosed as HIV positive, Mrs. K was pregnant. Their main concern then was that Mrs. K may have been infected too, and as such, precautions must be taken to minimise the chances of infection to the baby.
The first blood test on Mrs. K showed negative results. The doctor at the HIV clinic was not satisfied (she had to be doubly sure as a baby’s life was involved) and had another blood test done on her. The second test too showed negative results. Thank goodness. That meant Mrs. K could deliver the baby the normal procedure.
But even after due date Mrs. K had still not delivered and so finally the doctors decided a c-sect had to be done. The baby came out normal though, and since Mrs. K was confirmed free from HIV, the baby need not take any ARV medication and Mrs. K could breastfeed the baby (but somehow she didn’t have enough milk to feed the baby, and as such they needed supplies of milk powder just as much as those who couldn’t breastfeed their babies).
Little Baby K is nearly 1 ½ years old now. She didn’t have much problem, health wise. But recently she was down with fever and couldn’t sleep and eat well. She’d end up with diarrhea every time they fed her milk. Mrs. K brought her to the clinic and was given the usual medication. But Baby K didn’t get well. Early one morning, about 4 am, she was crying and crying and getting blue, and so her parents took her to the district hospital where the little girl was warded.
After a few days, she was discharged. But just 2 days after she got home, the same thing occurred. She was turning blue again. And again, she was brought to the district hospital and was warded yet again. It was then that the doctor asked if anyone in the family had any blood problems. Mrs. K didn’t want to tell about Mr. K’s HIV status as she said usually once they knew he was positive, the whole family would get a one kind of treatment from the hospital staff. A blood test was done on Baby K and Mrs. K started to worry if the baby had indeed been infected with HIV. I assured her that the baby would only be infected if Mrs. K herself was infected. But Mrs. K just had a blood test done a few weeks earlier and although she had not got the results, usually if it’s positive, SN would have called her by now.
Anyway, the doctor didn’t say anything about Baby K’s blood test. He just suggested to the family to change the little girl’s milk powder to something more expensive. The girl was discharged and Mr. & Mrs. K followed the doctor’s advice and bought the expensive milk powder. They didn’t have enough money, they borrowed.
Baby K still didn’t get well. This time, they decided to take her direct to Ipoh GH. That was 2 days ago. The girl was immediately warded and all sorts of tests were done – blood, x-ray, etc. And it was confirmed that… little Baby K has a hole-in-the-heart. Sigh…
Anyway, yesterday there was a royal visit to the Ipoh GH. The Sultan and Raja Permaisuri of Perak were there to officially rename the Ipoh GH to Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun. The royalties went around visiting a few wards as well, and naturally, the pediatric ward was top on the list. And you know what that meant? Yep, little Baby K had royal visitors and received a hamper and a teddy bear from the Raja Permaisuri herself! Woohoo! Her siblings would be jealous! They weren’t there when the royalties visited.
I went to visit Baby K yesterday. No-lah, not at the same time as the royal visit. I went later during visiting hours – the royalties were there in the morning.
The little girl was so happy and active yesterday. Those who saw her kept asking, “Dia sakit apa? Nampak sihat je?” When I got there she was so comot after eating choc biscuits from the hamper. She was so happy when I took her out of her bed and brought her around the ward. She was even happier when Mrs. K put on her shoes for her and we let her roam free. We ended up having a tough time chasing her around the ward! At home the little girl never had such a big space to move around – this time she had the whole hospital ward!
Well, Baby K will have to stay in the ward for a few more days at least for observation. At the same time, the doctors are arranging for appointments at IJN for her. That means, from now on, the Ks will also have to travel to KL for Baby K’s hospital appointments in addition to Mr. K’s appointments in Ipoh.
More money needed for sure. And with Mrs. K having to take leave from work more often, there will be less income.
Oh dear, here we go again…
The first blood test on Mrs. K showed negative results. The doctor at the HIV clinic was not satisfied (she had to be doubly sure as a baby’s life was involved) and had another blood test done on her. The second test too showed negative results. Thank goodness. That meant Mrs. K could deliver the baby the normal procedure.
But even after due date Mrs. K had still not delivered and so finally the doctors decided a c-sect had to be done. The baby came out normal though, and since Mrs. K was confirmed free from HIV, the baby need not take any ARV medication and Mrs. K could breastfeed the baby (but somehow she didn’t have enough milk to feed the baby, and as such they needed supplies of milk powder just as much as those who couldn’t breastfeed their babies).
Little Baby K is nearly 1 ½ years old now. She didn’t have much problem, health wise. But recently she was down with fever and couldn’t sleep and eat well. She’d end up with diarrhea every time they fed her milk. Mrs. K brought her to the clinic and was given the usual medication. But Baby K didn’t get well. Early one morning, about 4 am, she was crying and crying and getting blue, and so her parents took her to the district hospital where the little girl was warded.
After a few days, she was discharged. But just 2 days after she got home, the same thing occurred. She was turning blue again. And again, she was brought to the district hospital and was warded yet again. It was then that the doctor asked if anyone in the family had any blood problems. Mrs. K didn’t want to tell about Mr. K’s HIV status as she said usually once they knew he was positive, the whole family would get a one kind of treatment from the hospital staff. A blood test was done on Baby K and Mrs. K started to worry if the baby had indeed been infected with HIV. I assured her that the baby would only be infected if Mrs. K herself was infected. But Mrs. K just had a blood test done a few weeks earlier and although she had not got the results, usually if it’s positive, SN would have called her by now.
Anyway, the doctor didn’t say anything about Baby K’s blood test. He just suggested to the family to change the little girl’s milk powder to something more expensive. The girl was discharged and Mr. & Mrs. K followed the doctor’s advice and bought the expensive milk powder. They didn’t have enough money, they borrowed.
Baby K still didn’t get well. This time, they decided to take her direct to Ipoh GH. That was 2 days ago. The girl was immediately warded and all sorts of tests were done – blood, x-ray, etc. And it was confirmed that… little Baby K has a hole-in-the-heart. Sigh…
Anyway, yesterday there was a royal visit to the Ipoh GH. The Sultan and Raja Permaisuri of Perak were there to officially rename the Ipoh GH to Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun. The royalties went around visiting a few wards as well, and naturally, the pediatric ward was top on the list. And you know what that meant? Yep, little Baby K had royal visitors and received a hamper and a teddy bear from the Raja Permaisuri herself! Woohoo! Her siblings would be jealous! They weren’t there when the royalties visited.
I went to visit Baby K yesterday. No-lah, not at the same time as the royal visit. I went later during visiting hours – the royalties were there in the morning.
The little girl was so happy and active yesterday. Those who saw her kept asking, “Dia sakit apa? Nampak sihat je?” When I got there she was so comot after eating choc biscuits from the hamper. She was so happy when I took her out of her bed and brought her around the ward. She was even happier when Mrs. K put on her shoes for her and we let her roam free. We ended up having a tough time chasing her around the ward! At home the little girl never had such a big space to move around – this time she had the whole hospital ward!
Well, Baby K will have to stay in the ward for a few more days at least for observation. At the same time, the doctors are arranging for appointments at IJN for her. That means, from now on, the Ks will also have to travel to KL for Baby K’s hospital appointments in addition to Mr. K’s appointments in Ipoh.
More money needed for sure. And with Mrs. K having to take leave from work more often, there will be less income.
Oh dear, here we go again…
16 comments:
Kesian ye Baby K? Maybe they can get help from Yayasan IJN?
How can i help?
QOTH,
Am thinking of the same thing, but we see first lah what they need. For the time being we don't even know yet when their IJN appointment will be, how often they need to go and whatever else they really need.
Ood,
Errrrmm... that depends... what kind of help can you offer?
Anyway, as I mentioned to QOTH, we see first lah. The little girl is still under observation at the Ipoh GH. I will definitely give an update on Baby K's development from time to time. Then we see what we can do to help.
Kesiannya...inilah dia nya 'sudah jatuh, ditimpa tangga'.
If financial need is required to help this little girl, I suggest Kak Pi buat satu tabung and announce it in your blog. I'm sure a lot of people would like to help including me. X byk boleh bagi pon at least bila collect boleh dpt byk jugak kan...
Neny,
Memang kesian. And although belum tahu how much they need, I can already imagine the cost of travelling and accommodation alone...
Nantilah, apa-apa hal pun I will update my blog readers on the girl's latest developments, so stay tuned.
Helo kak,
Sorry to hear about baby K...:(
Kak Pi,
Poor baby K...have to endure so much...
Know nothing about it might be a blessing for the little girl, but this is going to put a lot of pressure on the mum...
Please keep us updated.
aisehman, very devastating to hear of her condition lah. first i thought, ok it was only the milk and the Ks may have to change their lifestyle as suggested by our friends up there.
now this. memang betul lah, dah jatuh ditimpa tangga. sometimes i wonder how will they cope with this turn of event. teman nak tolong pon tak berdaya.
Nightwing,
Yeah, it sure is so sad knowing about the little girl's condition. I just hope her condition is not too bad.
Akmal,
The whole family will feel the pressure, not just the mom.
I sure will update my blog readers when there are new developments.
Kerp,
I pun tergamam seround when I found out about baby K's condition. Baru lagi bercerita about the family having to go back to square one... now this...
Whatever it is, I hope Mrs K will be strong to face all these. InsyaAllah will try to help out sekadar yang mampu.
Hi Pi ... The saying "when it rains, it pours" comes to mind. One positive view is that they know what is wrong with Baby K and steps are taken to address her problem.
Hole-in-the-heart cases are rare and difficult but many have pulled through with the help of caring Malaysians. I hope Baby K become one of them.
I will join you and the others to help as much as I can, Pi.
Rita,
Yes, luckily the parents decided to bring her to Ipoh GH the 3rd time instead of going back to the same district hospital and getting the same treatment each time. From what I understand, her condition is not too critical but I don't know for sure. For the moment we'll just have to wait and see.
Akak...
nak sebut perkataan kesian pun saya jadi choked! Berat mata memandang berat lagi bahu memikul...
will sms u...
RG,
Apa nak buat, kena terima sajalah. One good thing is that Mrs K is not the "break down & cry" kind. While the family's not too good in their financial management, emotionally she's quite strong.
I guess all of us have our own strength and weaknesses, eh?
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