(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Blood cancer returns to now jobless 34-yr-old for third time and a bone marrow transplant is the only hope
Dubai: As the clock struck midnight on December 31 many of us made promises to get in shape or save more money in the New Year. But 34-year-old Larry Castro is hoping for just one thing — a lifesaving donor.
“If I had just one wish it would be to turn back the hands of time. But at least I tried to live a good fight” he tells Khaleej Times from his hospital bed.
Diagnosed with leukaemia in October 2011 Castro vividly recalls the moment when doctors broke the news to him.
“It was a horrible feeling. I felt like I wanted to die.”
Telltale symptoms
After experiencing an on/off fever bleeding gums and sudden weight loss while working in a supermarket in Dubai Marina Castro who moved to Dubai in 2009 grew concerned and went to his local clinic for a routine checkup.
“Nothing really came of the checkup. But for three weeks the symptoms continued to persist so eventually I went to Rashid Hospital to have a thorough checkup.”
After taking his blood that same day the doctors sat Castro down and the news that followed struck him hard.
“My physician told me I was suffering from Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML).”
A cancer that starts inside the bone marrow (the soft tissue inside bones that helps form blood cells) AML grows from cells that would normally turn into white blood cells.
With no family history of the disease Castro was in shock.
Doctors informed him that his case was urgent and just two days later he was back in the hospital undergoing the first of five doses of chemotherapy.
He remained in the hospital for five months.
“My work (place) was very understanding at that time and luckily my insurance covered all the hospital and treatment costs” he says.
Each month Castro endured a four-hour session of chemotherapy but with friends in Dubai offering him the support he needed he reacted well to treatment.
After being given the all clear after his fifth dose of chemotherapy in February 2012 Castro went back to work and tried to pick up where he left off.
Going for regular blood checks every two weeks things seemed to be improving for Castro but after one year and two months doctors became concerned. “They told me my blood count was dropping and they had noticed bruising on my body. At the same time I started to experience the old symptoms again. On/off fever bleeding gums. I was devastated.”
The AML had returned. After checking his bone marrow doctors discovered that the now 34-year-old Filipino had 75 per cent cancer cells within the marrow — and yet again he had to undergo five one monthly doses of chemotherapy.
He was admitted to Dubai Hospital in April 2013.
Continuing the fight
The only child to his mother and father Castro has one half brother and one half sister back home but due to their financial situation in the Philippines his family has been unable to visit him in Dubai.
“I would love so much to see them but tickets are too expensive. It would cost them about Dh3000 so I will just wait until I am better again to see them.”
Castro was given the all clear in September 2013 but as if in the same vicious cycle a year and two months later he relapsed and on November 23 2014 he was readmitted to Dubai Hospital where he remains to this day.
“After my first relapse my work (place) cancelled my work visa. They covered nearly Dh1.1 million of my hospital costs so I do understand why they let me go” he tells Khaleej Times.
Now funding his own visa costs Castro is unsure of what his current hospital bill stands at but he is concentrating on finding a bone marrow transplant donor.
“The doctors have told me that I need a donor because if I keep having chemotherapy it will continue to damage my organs.” Though bone marrow transplants are not carried out in the UAE if Castro finds a donor and sponsor the doctors say they are happy for him to travel abroad for treatment in his current health state.
“I could be treated in India the Philippines Jordan…anywhere really but for personal reasons I would like to go home for treatment” he says adding that he is waiting to see if his half sister is a donor match.
So as many of us begin 2015 with hopes of becoming slimmer healthier or wealthier Castro remains to cling to the hope that he will find his donor match making 2015 his best year yet.
kellykhaleejtimes.com