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KHUN SANE - 2 Years Old

KHUN SANE – 2 ½ Years Old   

Khun Sane is a 2 ½ year old boy from Myawaddy. His mother first brought him to Mae Tao clinic in July 2006 after noticing that her son had a white spot in the pupil, which developed into a malignancy of the soft tissue of the eye. Khun Sane was first referred to Mae Sot Hospital in late February 2007, where he received eye drops, but these had no effect and his condition worsened. He returned to Mae Tao Clinic in early March and was given IV antibiotics, but again these had no effect. In the last week, Khun Sane’s tumor has increased dramatically in size pushing the eyeball forwards and out of the socket. The condition causes the optic nerve to stretch, resulting in loss of vision and the eye atrophies.
   
If untreated the condition is fatal as the tumor spreads elsewhere in the body. Khun Sane’s only chance of a normal life is to travel to Chiang Mai and undergo life saving surgery to remove the tumor, but his family cannot afford to travel to Chiang Mai, or pay for treatment.

The family live outside of Myawaddy, the Burmese border town across the Moei River from Mae Sot, Thailand. His father is sick with TB and cannot work. Before he got sick, Khun Sane’s parents would take it in turns to go out to work and look after the children. They would both do day work trying to sell vegetables and food, but income is always irregular. During the rainy season they may not sell anything for days.

Khun Sane is the middle child and has a 4 month old younger sister and a 9 year old older brother. If Khun Sane is admitted to Chiang Mai hospital for treatment he may have to remain there for over a month, and his mother must stay with him. This poses the added problem of who will take care of the other children while she is away. An aunt has agreed to take care of the other children; but it is a frequently occurring problem.

To get from their home outside Myawaddy to Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot costs between 40-100 baht each way ($1.25-$3.16). On a good day Khun Sane’s parents can earn 50 baht ($1.60), but at the moment neither is able to work. Khun Sane and his mother Daw Ma Pu have made the trip to Mae Sot more than 10 times in the last year under increasing financial strain. This time they had to borrow money from friends and family members to make the trip to Mae Tao Clinic. They visited a clinic outside Myawaddy, but received only paracetamol. At Mae Tao, sometimes they can return to Myawaddy the same day, other times they have to stay for days, even weeks at a time. This puts huge strain on the family both financially and emotionally.

Khun Sane is not eating well because of his condition and sometimes has trouble breathing and coughs. Throughout the interview he clung to his mother while she tried to breastfeed his younger sister and answer my questions. The sad truth is that if Khun Sane does not get funding through BCMF for his treatment, he will not survive long.

I asked his mother about her hopes for her son’s future. She told me “I just want my baby cured”.

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