When the doctor was examining her condition, Yuanyuan could only stay silently beside. This photo was taken by Zhao Enze, an intern reporter of our newspaper.
11-year-old girl from Shaanxi province, Fan Yuanyuan, suffers from hemophagocytic syndrome. After receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, her condition had improved, but severe rejection reaction after the surgery put this girl in danger again. In the time of crisis, dozens of students from Renmin University of China extended a helping hand and donated platelets that she urgently needed. Currently, Yuanyuan is still in the process of rejection reaction and needs more care and help.
The Strange Disease That Made The Girl Seek Medical Treatment For Two Years
Yuanyuan's father, Mr. Fan, said that in the summer of 2007, he found that whenever his daughter was bitten by mosquitoes, large bumps would appear all over her body, accompanied by ulcers and fever. The whole family took Yuanyuan to seek medical treatment everywhere, "We went to Xi'an, Shanghai, Beijing, but we couldn't figure out what the disease was." It wasn't until 2009 that Yuanyuan's condition was diagnosed as "EB virus infection-related hemophagocytic syndrome."
Although the condition was confirmed, Mr. Fan learned from multiple sources that there was no specific effective drug or treatment method for this disease at present. In the following two years, Yuanyuan received other treatments, but the effects were not obvious. In early June this year, Yuanyuan was admitted to Dao Pei Hospital in Beijing and soon underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which is currently a relatively effective way to treat this disease.
After the transplantation, upon examination, Yuanyuan's condition began to improve, but around late July, serious rejection reactions appeared in her body.
Postoperative Rejection Reaction
Mr. Fan recalled that on July 29th, Yuanyuan started having severe abdominal pain, with the most severe being diarrhea more than 20 times a day, followed by bloody stools. Wu Tong, an expert from Dao Pei Hospital, introduced that Yuanyuan had a fourth-degree rejection reaction, which belongs to the most severe type of rejection reactions, already showing symptoms such as intestinal mucosa erosion, bleeding, and shedding, and she urgently needed platelets.
Due to the severe rejection reaction, eating became a luxury for Yuanyuan. Shuo Wei, Yuanyuan's mother, said that since the rejection reaction occurred, Yuanyuan has relied on intravenous nutritional fluids to maintain her strength, and can only occasionally drink some congee. In nearly 80 days, Yuanyuan has hardly eaten anything.
Yesterday, when I visited the hospital, I saw that 11-year-old Yuanyuan was only 1.25 meters tall and almost skin and bones. Mr. Fan said that currently, his daughter weighs only 18 kilograms, even lighter than right after the bone marrow transplant. A large amount of medical expenses are still required every day. If Yuanyuan cannot survive the rejection reaction period, the previous bone marrow transplant will have been in vain. Mr. Fan said that he originally thought his daughter would be discharged soon and return to health, but unexpectedly encountered such a severe rejection reaction.
Renmin University Students Donate Platelets
Since his daughter had daily gastrointestinal bleeding and urgently needed platelets that matched her AB blood type, Mr. Fan started posting requests for help on Weibo and his blog.
After learning about Yuanyuan's plight online, many students from Renmin University of China took action. Liu Yuhao from the School of Marxism at Renmin University learned about this matter through other classmates and gathered classmates around him to help Yuanyuan, "She needs platelets the most, so we go and donate, this kind of help is the most direct." Under the call of Liu Yuhao and other classmates, dozens of students divided into several batches and went to the blood center to donate platelets for Yuanyuan. So far, five or six classmates have donated platelets to Yuanyuan. Many classmates expressed that as long as Yuanyuan needs, they will donate again and pass this love action within the school.
In the afternoon yesterday, Pan Chen, the initiator of this rescue activity for Yuanyuan from Renmin University, said that since college students have limited ability in donating money, therefore, everyone was called to help Yuanyuan in a way they could manage - by donating platelets. Currently, it is known that Yuanyuan's condition is not suitable for visiting, and when her condition improves, they will organize classmates to visit and take care of her in the hospital.
By Zhang Jian of our newspaper