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Leukaemia patient has had two transplants and two relapses of blood cancer
IN FOUR years, she has had two bone marrow transplants.
 Now, Miss Lim Jia Li, 22, who suffers from leukaemia, needs a third one. That’s because the cancer returned last year.
While two of her three sisters could donate their bone marrow to her on previous occasions, Miss Lim does not have a matching donor this time.
Her other sister’s bone marrow does not match.
Miss Lim is currently seeking a matching bone marrow or cord blood donor.
And once again, she has to defer her studies at Republic Polytechnic while she undergoes treatment.
She suffered her latest relapse last August.
Jia Li, a second-year business computing student at Republic Poly, was first diagnosed with cancer in November 2006, a month before her 18th birthday.
She told The New Paper: “I was asleep at night when I suddenly had terrible chest pain. I shouted very loudly and woke my family up.”
Her eldest sister, Miss Lim Chair Ling, 24, recalled: “Her nails had turned purple and she could not breathe.”
She was rushed to hospital, where she was diagnosed with leukaemia.
She was then a second-year student at Republic and had to defer her studies.
She spent the next few months shuttling to and from hospital. Chemotherapy caused her to lose her hair and she had to wear a wig.
In mid-2007, Chair Ling donated her bone marrow to her sister. Their blood type is O+.
But just six months after the operation, Jia Li had a relapse.
Again, she had to go for chemotherapy.
She said: “The hospital became like a second home to me.”
In September 2008, she went for her second bone marrow transplant. This time, the donor was her youngest sister, Lim Li Shan, 17, an ITE student.
Her second sister, Miss Lim Chair Chair, 23, a student at the National University of Singapore,was not a match.
After the transplant, Jia Li was well enough to attend school from April to August last year. But she did not manage to complete the first semester of her third year.
Last August, she suffered yet another relapse. This time, she found a lump in her right cheek.
She said: “It was just a few weeks more to the end of the semester. I had taken one exam paper, but doctors advised me to stop school immediately.”
She lost 10kg in a month. Since then, she has lost 30kg. She used to weigh 80kg.
Chair Ling said: “Her last chemotherapy was so strong that it caused her a lot of pain. She kept crying.”
Once, she was in so much pain that she had to be given morphine, added Chair Ling.
Jia Li could not eat and was given nutrients intravenously.
She is now waiting for a suitable bone marrow donor.
Consultant haematologist Gerrard Teoh Kheng Hoe, 50, from Gleneagles Hospital, said that apart from blood type, the compatibility of the bone marrow tissue is critical for leukaemia patients.
But chances of getting a full match from someone outside the family is one in 100,000, he said.
In the meantime, Jia Li’s condition appears to be deteriorating.
Last month, she found lumps in her left breast, right thigh and lower back. The lump on her back is giving her back cramps.
Jia Li said: “I get the cramps every few days and it’s hard for me to walk.”
But through her ordeal, she has remained brave and cheerful.
Her course facilitator, Mr Lee Yow Jinn, told The New Paper that she is a diligent student, “who despite her illness maintains a positive attitude and remains cheerful in class”.
Mr Lee said via e-mail: “She has never let her condition affect her studies, even to the very last day in class when she had to defer her studies and concentrate on her treatment.
“When I met her again last November, she had lost weight but I could still see the cheerful spirit in her.”
Mr Lee has since set up a blog, www.jiali-jiayou.blogspot.com, to get more people to know about her condition.
He hopes to help raise money for her medical bills. Last November, Republic Poly raised $7,000 for her .
Medisave exhausted
Jia Li said her parents have exhausted their Medisave accounts.
Her mother, Madam Chai Chiew Lan, 49, is a housewife, while her father, Mr Lim Boon Kui, 52, earns $800 a month doing odd jobs.
Chair Ling, who earns $1,000 a month as a tutor, said the family owes the National University Hospital more than $50,000.
If Jia Li undergoes another transplant, she will need another $100,000, Chair Ling added.
But the polytechic is helping.
A Republic spokesman told The New Paper via e-mail: “We will assist Jia Li to assimilate into class again and have financial aid schemes for needy students to assist her.”
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