Ayi Wen (left) in healthier times and now.
LEUKAEMIA patient Soo Ayi Wen is appealing to compassionate contributors for financial assistance to pay for a bone marrow transplant.
The 26-year-old was diagnosed with B-acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in February.
ALL is a fast-growing cancer which starts in the lymphoid cells and since her diagnosis, Ayi Wen has endured four cycles of intensive chemotherapy at Hospital Ampang, Selangor.
Doctors say her condition is stable but as chemotherapy offers only temporary remission, they have recommended an allogeneic stem cell transplant to eliminate the leukaemia entirely.
An allogeneic stem cell transplant uses healthy blood stem cells from a donor to replace bone marrow that is not producing enough healthy blood cells.
Ayi Wen’s family has sought assistance from CCEP Foundation, a charity organisation, to raise the RM150,000 needed to pay for the medical procedure.
During a press conference at incumbent Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah’s service centre, CCEP Foundation group chief executive officer Yee Poo Yoon said the funds would be used for the extraction, processing and transport of the bone marrow.
“This will also include bone marrow matching through human leukocyte antigens (HLA) typing as well as getting the bone marrow from a donor,” she said.
She elaborated that Ayi Wen and her only sibling, her sister Ayi Yee, 31, were not a match.
“A donor from Thailand, who is a 99.9% match to Ayi Wen’s HLA type has been found.
“The search was aided by a Singaporean NGO’s bone marrow donor programme that manages a registry for donors,” said Yee.
“It is not easy as only one match can be found out of every 40,000,” she added.
HLA matching is used to match patients and donors for blood or bone marrow transplants.
If two people share the same HLA type, they are considered a match.
According to Yee, the doctors said that in view of her age, Ayi Wen would have a good chance of recovery upon a successful transplant procedure.
“Repeated marrow tests are showing good remission after chemotherapy.
“However, her type of cancer is aggressive and chemotherapy can only achieve temporary suppression.
“A bone marrow transplant is her only chance for complete recovery,” Yee added.
Ayi Wen’s mother, Yap Kum Leng, 53, a housewife, said her greatest wish is to see her child healthy again.
“I felt her pain every time she went for chemotherapy as she suffered side effects such as nausea as well as mouth and throat ulcers.
“As her immune system was at its most vulnerable then, she would be in isolation and we could only comfort her through video calls.
“Even when we brought her meals, we could only hand it through a nurse over the counter,” said Yap.
Ayi Wen’s father, Soo Chee Wah, 56, hopes that the public can help as he is unable to afford the transplant with his monthly salary of RM4,000 working as a construction supervisor.
Ayi Wen works in the partner care department of an online food and grocery delivery platform.
Those interested in helping can call CCEP Foundation at 03-7955 9999.
