Yeoh Yen Kee (19) who performed excellently in SPM, scoring 11As was forced to give up her dreams to pursue medicine in Czech Republic after being diagnosed to have Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on 14th May 2008. On 14th April 2009, she completed her chemotherapy course in Penang’s General Hospital but was later told that it had relapsed in mid of May 2009.
Since then, she completed her salvage chemotherapy (chemotherapy given after recurrence of a tumor) on 15 September 2009. According to the doctor, despite the fact that she discovered the illness at the early stage, chemotherapy fails to eliminate cancerous cells entirely from her body, thus making a bone marrow transplant even more urgent.
After the relapsed, Yen Kee needed a bone marrow transplant as a life saving procedure. Despite numerous attempts to search for suitable donors in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, the efforts were in vain. The only choice left is to extend the search overseas which is a relatively rare case in local medical history. With blessings and wishes, they managed to get suitable donors under the NMDP (National Marrow Donor Programme) Registry in USA.
According to Yeoh’s family, they need an amount of about RM 200,000 for her operation and healthcare costs, including USD55,000 for the procurement and courier of the bone marrow. which is a huge burden on the Yeoh’s. Once the stem cell arrived from USA, she will undergo the transplant in Ampang Hospital immediately.
They fervently hope that our loving society will react positively and generously to the fund raising campaign so as to help Yen Kee.
Background
She is ranked 3rd in the siblings of four and her father, Mr Yeoh, is a contractor. Due to her illness, Mr Yeoh was compelled to stop his jobs and take good care of her since last year. This has affected the family income and worsens the already tight financial condition.
During the course of treatment in Penang’s General Hospital, Yeoh’s family has spent a considerable amount of seventy to eighty thousand Ringgit. Together with the living expenses and the tuition fees of her siblings, all these have depleted the savings of Yeoh’s family significantly.
Due to her outstanding performance in SPM 2007, she was awarded the JPA Scholarships to further her studies in Czech Republic in medicine. However, her dreams shattered when she discovered this illness. Due to her medical conditions, she was forced to defer the scholarship by one year. Currently studying in the Sixth Form in Jit Sin High School, Yen Kee is left with the option to study medicine in local universities after she recovers.
Despite all the hardships she has to endure, she remains optimistic and shares with the press that she was extremely down when she first discovered her illness. However, thanks to the encouragement and unwavering support given by her family and friends, she started to accept the fact and has learnt to appreciate everything.
Yen Kee in the hospital
Reference : http://www.guangming.com.my/node/57665?tid=10
