Sympathetic family situation: child has severe kidney failure, father has terminal cancer

(Baonghean.vn) - The small house of Mr. Le Van Hung's family (1969) in village 5, Quynh Loc commune, Hoang Mai town has become increasingly gloomy and cold these days when both male pillars of the family fell seriously ill at the same time.

Sitting and feeding her husband porridge, Ms. Tran Thi Xuan could not hold back her tears when talking about the hardship her family is enduring.

The father is suffering from terminal cancer. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Ms. Xuan's family life is quite difficult when the 5 mouths in the house depend only on a few fields and Mr. Hung's hired work. Taking care of 3 school-age children is really not easy when the couple does not have any other side jobs.

In 2013, the second son, Le Van Cuong (born 1993), suddenly had poor health and was often dizzy, so his family took him to the hospital for a check-up and discovered he had kidney failure. After a period of treatment at Bach Mai Hospital, because the family was too poor to afford the hospital fees, he was sent back to his hometown and treated with traditional medicine.

Occasionally, when they could borrow some money, they would take their son for a check-up and then go home to take medicine to control his condition. For over a month now, the disease has progressed rapidly, causing Cuong's health to deteriorate. He had to be hospitalized for emergency treatment and undergo dialysis when he had stage 2 kidney failure. The disease and a pessimistic, depressed mentality have made Cuong become sullen and want to give up. He has to go to the hospital for dialysis 3 times a week to maintain his health.

According to the doctor's assessment, my illness has reached a dangerous stage and I need a kidney transplant. But the cost is too high, my family cannot afford it because not only I am sick but my father - Le Van Hung - also has late-stage liver cancer. 4 months ago, while working for money to treat his son, Hung had back pain and could not walk, so he went to the hospital and was shocked when he received the diagnosis of liver cancer.

Son has severe kidney failure. Photo by Thanh Thuy

The hospital required hospitalization for radiation therapy, but the family was too poor and their son was seriously ill, so the family had to take him home to take traditional Chinese medicine. He has now almost lost his memory and is speaking unconsciously. Ms. Xuan has to stay by his side day and night to take care of him. The eldest son, Le Van Dung, also had to quit his job and return from the South to take his younger brother for dialysis, so he currently has no job. The youngest daughter, Le Thi Huyen, who is in 12th grade, also has kidney inflammation and has to go to the doctor every few months and take herbal medicine.

Saying goodbye to Hung’s family, the image of the frail man struggling with pain every second to fight the terrible disease made us feel heartbroken. We really need kind hearts to help their family overcome this extreme hardship.

Thanh Thuy