Binh ThuanAfter giving birth to her second child nearly three years ago, Hanh discovered she had breast cancer. After more than a year of treatment, her disease was improved and discovered that her daughter also had cancer.
Thinking back to the whole time since getting married until now, Huynh Thi My Hanh (50 years old) lamented: “Sometimes I see God punishing me too much”.
She and her husband used to make a living by working as a hired hoe in Vo Xu town, Duc Linh district, Binh Thuan province, earning only a few tens of thousands of dong a day. “When I was pregnant with a son in early 1996, the couple shared a few salted eggplants every day with a bag of rice and then went to work. The son was born 2.1 kg prematurely, later suffered from intestinal problems, stunted malnutrition and pulled. long,” recalled Hanh.
From the time he was born until the boy Huu Long was 10 years old, the mother and son traveled every year around the district and provincial hospitals, treating intestinal peristalsis, which the mother thought was “caused by me eating too much.” while pregnant with it”.
Growing up, Huu Long’s condition improved. In 2008, the couple saved some money and discussed having more children for the boy whose brother had a brother. In July 2009, little girl Phan Huynh Huu Nguyen was born healthy.
The joy of adding children was not long, in early 2011, Hanh went to the doctor and was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. The family belongs to a poor household, with two young children, now the mother is sick, losing sleep, losing 7 kg a month. But the desire to live to raise children is stronger than all. Running and borrowing all her relatives, she got 20 million dong, her family took her to the hospital for tumor surgery, followed by a long period of radiation and chemotherapy.
When her mother got sick, Phan Huynh Huu Nguyen was only 28 months old. Every time she went to the city for medical treatment, Hanh and her husband had to wait until the child was fast asleep to escape, otherwise Nguyen would run after crying to go with her. Her mother was away from home for a long time for treatment, and every time she returned, she would sit by the bed and fall asleep when she was tired, but she refused to get up for fear that her mother would leave.
Although she was young, every time her mother vomited due to drug irritation, Nguyen knew how to bring the basin to empty and then wash it clean. Mother complained of body pain, the little girl tried to massage her with her tiny hands. “One day, when her father went to work, he went to school, there was a pot of braised meat on the kitchen. At lunch, she wanted to get meat for her mother but couldn’t reach it, she just stood there crying,” Hanh recalls the first time she got sick. bedridden.
Fortunately, a neighbor passed by and helped lift the pot of meat to the ground. “At that time, Nguyen was very happy, he scooped up the meat to put it in a bowl of rice and then ran to bring it to his mother, urging him to eat,” Hanh said.
In 2012, Hanh’s health gradually improved, but she could not do heavy work, so she stayed at home and applied to support a kindergarten with a monthly salary of 2.5 million dong.
Phan Huynh Huu Nguyen often studied on a pillow in the motel room when the pain subsided. Image: Characters provided
In December 2021, another disaster struck the family. Nguyen’s upper lip suddenly developed a hard lump as big as the tip of a chopstick. Taking her daughter to the city for a biopsy, the result was benign, she breathed a sigh of relief. But two months later, two more hard lumps appeared on her lips, which grew larger and darker, turning back to blood red inside. This time, the doctor diagnosed her with a malignant mucosal tumor of the cheek.
The doctor’s diagnosis was like a thunderclap for the whole family. Hanh hastily sold the motorbike she was carrying with all her valuables in the house, borrowed everywhere to take care of 100 million for her son’s surgery in August 2022. Now mother and daughter are renting a small room near Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, receiving radiation therapy according to the doctor’s protocol.
“These days, the tumor causes severe pain from the nose down, making it difficult for Nguyen to eat and drink. I can only drink diluted milk and porridge, every time I eat, I have to lift my lips to pour food in,” the mother shared. shall.
Although his face, nose and mouth were all very painful, Nguyen never cried or cried, nor missed a meal to be healthy enough for the next radiotherapy sessions. Every time the pain subsides, the 13-year-old girl turns on the lamp, uses the pillow as a desk, turns on the phone to listen to the recorded lecture of the teacher in class.
“Nguyen is very hard-working and hardworking. For many years in a row, I have been an excellent student of the school,” said teacher Tran Thi Thanh Van, head of class 8A1, Nguyen Trai Junior High School, Duc Linh District, Binh Thuan Province. Comment on the little girl.
The first week of radiation therapy in the city, because I missed school, I missed classes, so on Friday afternoon, Hanh took the bus back to her hometown, letting Nguyen go to school on weekends with friends. But traveling is expensive, now mother and daughter have to stay in the motel room, Nguyen can only study by phone. Sometimes the mother sees her child wipe away tears when alone, at such times she can only turn away, holding back a sigh.
Hanh sighed not only because of the pain of her illness, but she herself did not know if she could continue to treat her child in the future. Homes what value have sold out. The husband has a herniated disc disease, and has to apply pain relievers every day to hoe the land. The eldest son, before his sister had surgery for the tumor, also fell from the roof and broke his leg, and has remained motionless in the house for three months.
“Sometimes I feel like my life is so miserable, but I think, anyway, everyone is still together, so I keep trying,” the 50-year-old mother shared.
Nguyen’s radiation therapy journey is only halfway through, but she has calculated that after returning home, the first thing to do is to cut her long hair and support children who are being treated at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital.
Hearing her wish, Hanh asked: “Don’t you regret years of growing your hair?”. Nguyen stroked his hair, replied: “Cut hair will grow back. I want them to have beautiful hair so they can always be confident and continue to fight diseases like me.”
With the goal of igniting the faith of children with cancer, the Hope Foundation cooperates with Mr. Sun to launch the Sun of Hope program. One more community’s cooperation is another ray of light sent to the future generations of the country. Readers can view program information here.
Hai Hien
.