After 15 month-old's bone marrow did not match with parents, doctors pin hope on foreign donors
On December 2, Sunday Mid Day reported the condition of 15 month-old Anvi Pednekar, who needed a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Within a week, her parents Ruchita and Rupesh began receiving help from all over the world.
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However, Anvi’s bone marrow does not match with her parents and a foreign donor will have to be sought. Dr Shobha Badiger, consulting Pediatric Hemato-Oncology expert at Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore, said, “We have applied to Hitsogenetics USA, Germany and the Indian registry for donors. We are anticipating feedback within a week.” She added that usually, if patients are lucky, they can get the match within a week, or a month. Most, however, have to wait longer.
When asked about the plan of treatment for Anvi, Dr Shobha said, “The future line of treatment will be based on test findings.”
On December 25, Anvi was transfused with fresh blood to maintain her haemoglobin level, which had dropped to 6 gm/ml. “We have spent nearly Rs 92,000 on air tickets to Bangalore and for HLA and buckle swab tests. Also, now that the samples have been sent abroad, we are sure the expenses will shoot up. A few donors have promised to deposit their contribution directly to the Bangalore
hospital.”
The Kandivli couple is preserving all the receipts and will post them on Avni’s Facebook page that they have created.
Till January, the Pednekars have received over Rs 17.5 lakh.u00a0