Jamilia Asghar a resident of Iraq was holding her newborn shortly after giving birth on November 23, 2018, Zia’s father, Daoud Asghar, was ecstatic have a girl after again after two sons and one daughter now split evenly with two boys and two girls. At three and a half months old, Zia had a fever that wouldn’t break. Parents took her to the emergency department at a local hospital in Iraq, where she has prescribed some medication that didn’t seem to help. “Since we have older children we knew that fever should have broken, so we went a week later,” said Daoud.
Again in ED, the family was told their daughter was very sick, possibly leukemia. “We were devastated and were in disbelief, as we thought it was just a cold, say mother Jamilia. Concerned, Zia’s pediatrician sent her directly to see the team at the children’s hospital for cancer. Over the six months, Zia’s platelet counts dropped to nearly zero, she became reliant on blood and platelet transfusions, and she underwent a variety of tests to try to identify the origin of her health issues. Zia was diagnosed with aplastic anemia from unknown origins, a condition that occurs when one’s body stops producing enough new blood cells.
For close to two months, they went from pillar to post trying to look for a viable treatment for Zia, however, after every doctor’s visit they would return home disappointed. Nonetheless, every doctor they visited suggested they should get Zia treated in India. Out of options, the family finally decided to heed the doctors’ advice and subsequently began looking for a pediatric haemato oncologist & bone marrow transplant specialist. Their search online led them to the India cancer surgery service. Speaking to their case manager, Zia’s parents shared her history starting from Zia’s first doctor’s visit in Iraq. After listening to their case carefully, the India cancer surgery service team presented a number of optional treatments for Zia’s parents to choose from. These included some of India’s top pediatric hematology-oncology and blood and marrow transplants in India. After going through their options for the family decided to go with Dr. Manas Kalra pediatric oncologist Delhi as has specialized in management of cancers of childhood, adolescent and young adults undergoing bone marrow transplant, and the team helped us to get connected with the surgeon via a video call, where he suggested after going through the report the only treatment option was a bone marrow transplant, which could provide Zia complete healing – something her parents had hoped for since the day she was born. Learning that Zia needed a bone marrow transplant left her family wondering, who would be the donor? Fortunately, Zia’s little sister, Eva, was a perfect match and agreed to help her sister get better. And they immediately flew to India; Zia’s family temporarily relocated to India where Zia would undergo her transplant and spends the next few months in recovery.
Arriving in India, the family awaited their appointment with Dr. Manas Kalra is pediatric haemato oncologist & bone marrow transplant specialist at Apollo Hospital, Delhi. The meanwhile, their case manager had their medical reports and tests sent over to the oncologist’s office. On the first day of consultation, Dr. Manas Kalra conducted a full check-up of Zia; she was on the edge of death, from her symptoms, she suspected she had hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a very rare disease addressed Dr. Manas Kalra pediatric oncologist Delhi, Eventually, all the required investigations were conducted, Zoë’s surgery was carried out successfully. The patient spent the recovery period in the hospital. However, the parents were grateful to Dr. Manas Kalra for putting up with us and answering all of our questions during that difficult time. Before the discharge, Dr. Manas Kalra again examined the patient and counseled his family regarding all the post-operative instructions.
After spending nearly 50 days in the hospital, Zia was finally able to go home – the very thing she was looking forward to the most. Not only did the bone marrow transplant treat Zia, but she is also now at no higher risk of health complications than your average, healthy child!