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KHWAR NYO THIN

When Khwar Nyo Thin was born, she weighed only 1.4kg and her twin sister weighed 2.5kg. Her heartbroken mother did not think that Khwar Nyo Thin would survive even this long. Every time she undergoes any surgery, her mother fears her child will die. Khwar Nyo Thin arrived at Mae Tao Clinic at the age of 2 years. She was very tiny and couldn’t walk at all, but was very bright and talked a lot. Unfortunately she is suffering with congenital heart disease and was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot (TOT). Infants and children with TOF do not grow well, tire easily and die prematurely if the defects are not corrected.

She underwent a surgical procedure called a Blalock-Taussig shunt on 6/17/04. This surgery however is only a temporarily relief from major symptoms, allowing her to grow. Khwar Nyo Thin could not have a total correction at the time because her body was too weak and to small to under go major surgery. For a child to have a major cardiac surgery, the surgeon would like them to weigh at least 10 kg or more.

Khwar Nyo Thin family situation is like most patients that come from Burma. It is very difficult to make end meet anyway, it is even harder with a very sick child.  Khwar Nyo Thin’s father is a carpenter in Myawaddy. He regards himself lucky if he gets 15 days work out of every month. “If I can earn 3,500 baths ($110) a month and my family member is not sick, we can live on that”. Khwar Nyo Thin’s illness puts a huge financial strain on the family.

Her mother is a school teacher, but cannot get a permanent job because of her child’s health, however she tries to get private tutoring jobs to make ends meet. This is not easy. She would often travel with her child to Taung Goo Township (700km from Myawaddy) to seek work. Khwar Nyo Thin’s twin sister has to stay in Taung Goo with her grandparents for education.

Now work is drying up for Khwar Nyo Thin’s mother and she has moved back to Myawaddy to be with her husband and be close to Mae Tao Clinic. Khwar Nyo Thin’s symptoms are getting worse, but it is close to her surgery date of June 14th 2007, when she will have total corrective heart surgery. Her family hopes that funding will come in time for Khwat Nyo Thin’s surgery. Without surgery, she will not survive. 

Rotary Fund have kindly agreed to sponsor Kywar Nyo Thin’s surgery

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