Fathima, a 36-year-old staff nurse who works at a hospital in Oman, had lost all hope of survival when she was diagnosed with leukaemia in February this year. Her case was complicated because she had Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) with mixed Phenotypic Acute Leukaemia.
This mother to two had to undergo several tests. The doctors in Oman said that the only way in which she could survive was by a “Total Marrow Irradiation (TMI) as a conditioning protocol prior to Bone Marrow Transplant.” This would cure her and allow her to return to normal life.
As of now Fathima has recovered and is confident and is ready to fly back to Oman after her treatment in Chennai. She is set to go back into her normal life. She recovered as the team of doctors in Chennai performed the TMI successfully. This took place at the newly opened Apollo Proton Cancer Centre (APCC).
She had flown to Chennai in the first week of April, however was operated between the 18- 23 of April. Speaking at a press conference she said:
“God gifted me the disease and the same god has given me a new life. These four months have taught me what life is. I am extremely happy and thankful to doctors at the Apollo Proton Cancer Centre for the treatment. I can’t express my happiness.”
After she was diagnosed with CML, the doctors at the Royal Hospital in Oman had decided to shift her to Apollo in Chennai. This was so that Fathima could get the special treatment she required.
APCC was launched only in January this year. It is the first proton therapy facility that offers advanced cancer care treatment in South East Asia. Fathima had gone through two chemotherapy cycles at Oman. Once she came to APCC, the doctors proceeded with the TMI based conditioning for the transplant. She had gone through a peripheral blood stem cell transplant on 23 April.
The Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals, Prathap C Reddy extended a thank you message to The Royal Hospital in Oman.
“This is a great achievement by any centre which is just months old. We thank the Royal Hospital in Oman for sending this young woman to APCC for specialised treatment. We hope to achieve more such milestones.”
The bone marrow transplant was done after Fathima’s brother turned out to be a fully-matched donor.
Dr Srinivas Chilukuri said that TMI has an advantage over Total Body Irradiation. He had said that in TMI only the bone marrow is irradiated, therefore organs like eyes and heart is spared. The side effects of TMI are lesser than that of Total Body Irradiation.
Fathima is back to her normal life, fully cured.
Pic credit: Deccan Herald
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Kavya Shah is an intern at SheThePeople.Tv
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