We once again coordinated with Ms. Linda Lin and she emailed us the following requirements for possible admission in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital:
Dear Mr. Zarraga,
Thank you for considering Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Taiwan as potential partner in providing health care for your son who needs liver transplantation.
To give you a brief summary of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in Chang Gung:
1. Total cost that the hospital requires wire-transferred before the patient arrives in Taiwan: NT$ 1.5~2.0 million (NT$ 1 = Phil Peso 1.5); that's roughly about Phil. Peso 2~3 million (depending on current exchange rate). This amount includes both recipient and donor operations. This amount covers operations, hospitalization (3-in-a-room + ICU), medications, and diagnostic tests. This amount is for uncomplicated cases. If this cost is not consumed, all unused money will be refunded. This amount excludes all travel and living expenses while your family is in Taiwan.
2. The family will stay in Taiwan for around 3 months. There may be a hostel (semi-furnished with kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, telephone, cable TV, refrigerator, hot and cold water) available within the hospital compound. Rent is around NT$ 945/day. Payment for the hostel is not included in the NT$ 2.0 million.
3. Recipient will stay in ICU after the transplant for 2-3 weeks, 2-3 weeks in the ward, then 1 month in the house. The donor can go back to Philippines after 1 month.
4. Donor and Recipient must have same blood type or ABO compatible. Donor must be negative for HBV or HCV. Donor must be within 5th degree of consanguinity with the recipient or the recipient's spouse. Donor must be at least above 20 years of age.
If you decide on living donor liver transplantation for your son, please provide us requirement as follows for presentation.
Recipient:
1. Name, age, gender, body weight and height, blood type, birth date
2. Updated Clinical abstract, operations and treatments, medications, reason for transplant
3. Hepatitis profile: HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc, anti-HCV
4. Blood chem: CBC/DC, Albumin, AST, ALT, total and direct bilirubin, creatinine, pro-time with INR, AFP
5. Liver ultrasound
6. Liver CT Angiogram. (done by Dr. Santos-Ocampo or Dr. Jackson Dy in Makati Med Center-all Phil. patients that come to Chang Gung have their CTA done in MMC because their CTA is compatible with that being used here in Taiwan, otherwise, the CTA cannot be read by the computed here). Indicate for liver transplant recipient. Send us a copy of the CD.
Donor:
1. Name, age, gender, body weight and height, blood type, relationship with recipient (with proof, birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.), birth date
2. Hepatitis profile: HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc, anti-HCV
3. Blood chem: CBC/DC, Albumin, AST, ALT, Total bil, creatinine, INR/protime, AFP
4. Liver ultrasound
5. Liver CT Angiogram. (done by Dr. Santos-Ocampo or Dr. Jackson Dy in Makati Med Center-all Phil. patients that come to Chang Gung have their CTA done in MMC because their CTA is compatible with that being used here in Taiwan, otherwise, the CTA cannot be read by the computed here). Indicate for liver transplant donor. Send us a copy of the CD.
The items and fees listed above are for reference only. All necessary checkups, procedures and treatments should be based on doctor’s final diagnoses, and the charge will be according to hospital’s fee schedule. I suggest the patient and his potential donor going to Dr. Gregorio who is working for Philippines General Hospital for preliminary tests. She will guide them to the relevant examination. They can do first the blood typing and hepatitis profile to screen both recipient and donor before going into the more expensive laboratory and diagnostics. We do this screening because if they go directly to Taiwan and if either recipient or donor is found to be unsuitable, it’s a waste of money (travel, laboratory, etc.).
If you decide to send the above materials via courier, please send it to the address below:
Linda Lin
Superintendent Office, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
123 Ta-Pei Road, Niao-Sung, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C
Tel. +886-7-731-7123 Ext. 3261
Fax. +886-7-732-3625
website:www.clchen.org.tw
After presentation, we will issue an acceptance letter to you if the recipient and the donor are suitable candidates for living donor liver transplantation. An acceptance letter is needed for fund raising. The patients who underwent liver transplantation will need to take immunosuppressants (medicine of anti-rejection) for lifetime to prevent rejection of their liver. Regular checkup is requested for liver transplant patient. In Taiwan, the estimated cost of monthly immunosuppressants and checkup is around NT. 15,000. Please also give this matter your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Linda Lin
International patient coordinator
Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Taiwan
We knew that we had to accomplish all of these the soonest possible so I volunteered and we decided that I would be the donor for my son's Liver Transplant. We also began to had weekly check-ups with Dr. Germana Gregorio for close monitoring of his condition.
We were once again admitted at the Perpetual Help Medical Center on April 14, 2011 and was discharged on April 18, 2011 for blood and albumin transfusion. And after another month we were admitted at the Philippine General Hospital on May 6, 2011 and was discharged on May 8, 2011 for the same reason. Our son's condition was getting worse and we knew he had to have his operation soon. We immediately scheduled him on April 29, 2011 for the CT Angiogram to be done at the Makati Medical Center under Dr. Jackson Dy (Radiologist).
We were starting to get frustrated because our financial resources were starting to get drained due to the monthly confinements, monthly lab tests, expensive medicines, and specialized formula milk reaching up to millions in total. During one of our check-ups, we were referred to Dr. Allan Concejero (Liver Surgeon) who was currently in the Philippine General Hospital and is part of the Surgery Department of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. The minute we walked into his room he immediately told us that I could not be the donor for my son because I was too big in height. He said it would be better if my wife would be the donor, so we had no choice but to once again repeat the work-ups, this time with my wife having to undergo all the blood tests and lab tests. This was a challenging event throughout Raphael Inigo's Journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment