Tuesday, Aug 05, 2014
Dubai: Faced with hospital bills mounting by the day to save the life of their newborn baby, a young Indian couple is reaching out for help from the public.
While thankful for the expert care received from the hospital and its surgeons, mother Edna Jaycinth is at a complete loss as to how the couple will settle an Dh800,000 medical bill that is still growing as their baby, Abigail Ruth, fights for her life.
Jaycinth is desperate to save their third child.
While the father, Sandeep, had to leave for India for his own health treatment, Jaycinth, whose company extended her maternity leave until the end of August, divides her time between home and hospital to care for her sick baby and two school-going children.
The baby was born on May 29 at a Dubai hospital this year with a congenital disorder known as multiple intestinal blockage and is yet to taste milk. Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive care Unit (NICU) of the hospital, she is being fed intravenously for over two months. She has been through two major abdominal surgeries and needs at least three more complicated surgeries and advanced care.
Jaycinth had no inkling of the complications her child was to have.
“During the second trimester of my pregnancy, a routine anatomical scan revealed my baby had an abdominal cyst and I was told that at the most a laser surgery would be required to remove it, with a one-week stay for the baby at the hospital. My insurance could have easily covered that as it covers maternity and small complications. So, I was not really worried,” said Jaycinth.
Unfortunately, for the baby, the diagnosis was proved wrong.
The surgeon discovered that baby Abigail had a far more complicated condition only when they opened up her abdomen within a week of her birth. The surgeon discovered 12 blocks all the way from the beginning of the small intestine to the rectum. He corrected most of them and also had to excise about 20cm of her intestine. But he had to leave the rectum part for a follow-up surgery.
Abigail was supposed to start feeding after a two-week recovery period. However, there was no improvement in her condition and she had to be rushed in for another surgery on June 24. After that Abigail turned out to be resilient and decided to fight for her life and miraculously began showing improvement.
However, her fragile condition demands she continues to stay at the hospital as she is still on IV fluids. To save on mounting hospital bills, Jaycinth decided to move her baby to Latifa Hospital.
“But that hospital protocol requires that any child coming in from another hospital has to stay in the isolation room for some time. This isolation room is under renovation and my baby cannot stay there. So we have identified a hospital in Hyderabad, India and are planning to shift her there for further treatment. Baby Abigail requires three more surgeries,” Jaycinth said.
To do that, Jaycinth has to first clear the hospital bill of Dh800,000 that is likely to mount until she is discharged from the hospital.
“My insurance will cover up to Dh250,000 and the hospital is willing to give a 16 per cent discount on the final bill and have given me a four-month instalment plan to settle the bill as a goodwill gesture. Friends and colleagues from work have helped me raise an additional Dh150,000 but I am still falling short by at least Dh400,000. I cannot raise this amount on my own and would sincerely like to appeal to generous souls to help me pay the remainder amount and transfer my baby to the hospital in Hyderabad,” pleads Jaycinth, who sponsors her three children.
By Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary Senior Reporter
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
