A boy suffering from a rare strain of anemia is recovering after
receiving a marrow transplant yesterday morning in Shanghai
Children's Medical Center.
Three-year-old Qiu Jianwen is in stable condition after getting
600 milliliters of hemopoietic stem cells, from a donor in
Taiwan.
Leading surgeon Dr Chen Jing, who has remained by Qiu's side
since the operation, said it would be two weeks before it is known
if the operation was a success.
The young boy faces the prospect of infection or his body
rejecting the stem cells.
Qui's family began to suspect something was medically wrong with
their son more than a year ago after they found him trying to pick
chalk off walls and eat it.
His parents, both migrant workers from Sichuan, tried to stop
him but failed. The boy dug holes on walls with all kinds of tools
he could find.
He was also considered shorter than children of the same age,
but showed no signs of mental retardation. Last July, Dr Min Bihe
diagnosed the boy with thalassemia, caused by a genetic defect, and
risked only living another 7 years if there was no medical
intervention.
But the only known cure is through marrow transplant, with an
estimated cost of 300,000 yuan (US$38,824), an expense the boy's
parents could not afford.
The boy, later sent to the hospital for treatment was dealt a
blow, when it was revealed both parents had anemia, and would not
be able to donate their marrow.
But last year, Shanghai's Dragon TV produced a segment on the
boy, and in a heart-touching public reaction, people donated nearly
200,000 yuan (US$25,882).
Later more people donated money, and pop stars in Taiwan also
held charity sales to raise funds for him.
Luckily again, a matching marrow donor was also found in
Taiwan.
The marrow was taken out of the young man from the Tzu Chi
Hospital in Hualian of Taiwan Province on Wednesday morning March
28, and was sent to Shanghai on the same evening.
"(Qiu Jianwen) is in high spirits now, only the appetite is not
so good, but this is common after marrow transplant," Xia Lin, a
hospital staff member said.
(China Daily March 30, 2007)
