Poor housewife finds help for son born without anus

Poor housewife finds help for son born without anus
By Jeannette Andrade
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:28:00 06/02/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- After Jennelyn Guansing, a 35-year-old housewife, gave birth to Sam, her youngest son, she and her friends attributed his condition to her inexplicable preference for snails during her pregnancy.

Sam was born on January 26, 2006, with an imperforate anus, a condition that afflicts only one in every 5,000 children. Without an anus, the baby was unable to get rid of the waste in his body the normal way.

"I found out about his condition two days after I gave birth to him with the help of a midwife in our home. I was cleaning him up with a cotton ball soaked in baby oil when I noticed he had no anus," Jennelyn told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

Jennelyn is married to Moreto, 43, a farmer in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. The couple and their children live in a nipa hut, which belongs to the owner of the land Moreto is tilling.

Despite their poverty, Jennelyn said she was determined to let Sam live a normal life, even if it meant seeking help from relatives and strangers in far-off places, including Metro Manila.

She turned to her aunt, Angelita Guansing, and her cousin, Annie Magbanwa, for help. The two women, residents of Batangas City, consulted doctors at the Batangas Regional Hospital, who recommended an immediate operation to save the boy's life.

Sam needed to undergo a colostomy -- a medical procedure where an opening in the abdomen is created through which a small portion of the colon is brought up to the surface of the skin. This new opening, called a stoma, allows stool to pass directly out of the body.

"My husband asked his employer for a loan and he was lucky that he was given one because he has been working there for 10 years," Jennelyn said, explaining that the loan was in the form of several cavans of rice, which they sold.

With the money, Sam immediately underwent a colostomy.

The boy, however, needed to undergo another procedure, an abdominal perineal pull-through operation where the rectum is "pulled down" and sewn into a newly-made anal opening in the perineum. The operation costs at least P100,000.

With the help of Senate President Manuel Villar, who agreed to finance the operation, Sam was operated on at the Philippine General Hospital.

Dr. Esther Sagui, the PGH pediatric surgeon who led the surgery team of four doctors, told the Inquirer that the procedure took three to six hours but remarked that it was good that the operation was done while Sam was still young.

"Children should be given a chance to live normal lives. It was good that the procedure was done as early as possible to allow the child to develop normally," she said.

Sam is expected to go through one last operation -- the closure of the stoma on his abdomen -- a source of relief for his mother.

"I am sure now that he will live and grow up normally like other children," she said.

Ostomy Association in the Phillipines

The first board meeting was held this second quarter of the year that saw the new set of officers laying out plans for the smooth running of the Ostomy association. It was held at the Getz Bros office, Pasig City upon the kind accommodation of the marketing and sales manager Ms. Madeleine Cunanan. The issues that were discussed focused primarily on setting a scheduled agenda every monthly meeting on behalf of the members. This will at least give a semblance of order and participation. Somehow, it has been a common recurrence that monthly meetings had no direct objectives and goals achieved. Likewise, there has been the common observation wherein members just attend the meetings in order to receive the free ostomy supplies that is being distributed. This is sometimes unavoidable and excusable since most of the members are really poor and in need. Nevertheless, it has been argued too that each and every member can play a part in further establishing the betterment of the association

The pressing decisions taken and upheld were the urgency to get support through solicitations that will be able to fund activities and supplement budget expenses of the groups. In line with these, the group intends to thank in a special way the sponsors and benefactors who have been supporting the OAP since the beginning by sending Thank You cards as sign of gratitude. The setting up of a website for the OAP was also approved and should be functional by the end of the year. This will allow the association to be reached online.

There have been lively exchanges among the board officers with a mixture of 3 senior citizens and 2 young adults represented by the two namesakes.

What is Ulcerative Colitis?

What is Ulcerative Colitis?

Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes inflammation and sores (ulcers) in the lining of the large intestine, or colon. It usually affects the lower section (sigmoid colon) and the rectum. But it can affect the entire colon. In general, the more of the colon that’s affected, the worse the symptoms will be.

Ulcerative colitis can affect people of any age, but most people who have it are diagnosed before the age of 30.

What causes Ulcerative Colitis?

Experts are not sure what causes ulcerative colitis. They think it might be caused by the immune system overreacting to normal bacteria in the digestive tract. Or other kinds of bacteria and viruses may cause the disease.

Ulcerative colitis is not caused by stress, as people once thought. But if you have ulcerative colitis, stress can make it worse. You are more likely to get ulcerative colitis if other people in your family have it.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptoms are:

a. Belly pain or cramps b. Bloody diarrhea or an urgent need to have a bowel movement c. Bleeding from the rectum.

Some people also may have a fever, may not feel hungry, and may lose weight. In severe cases, people may have diarrhea 10 to 20 times a day.

It can also cause other problems, such as joint pain, eye problems, or liver disease. But these symptoms are more common in people who have Crohn’s disease.

In most people, the symptoms come and go. Some people go for months or years without symptoms (remission). Then they will have a flare-up. About 5 to 10 out of 100 people with ulcerative colitis have symptoms all the time.

Ulcerative colitis sometimes leads to more serious problems. It can cause scarring of the bile duct. This can lead to liver damage. In rare cases, severe disease causes the colon to swell to many times its normal size (toxic megacolon). This can be deadly and needs emergency treatment.

People who have ulcerative colitis for 8 years or longer have a greater chance of getting colon cancer.

WE TIP OUR HATS OFF AS AOA REGIONAL PRESIDENT DATO JOHN CARDOSA CELEBRATES HIS 81ST BIRTHDAY!

“Great men lose somewhat of their greatness by being near us; ordinary men gain much.”

Walter Landor

The story of Dato John David Cardosa goes a long way as he turns 81 this fourth of June. I believe he has touched a lot of people’s lives merely by the energy and passion in the way he has been living life and that is by just being near ordinary men.

He reveals that he had made a vow in the year 1972 when he was given a death sentence by his doctors then. It was at that time that he made a vow to serve his fellowmen for as long as he is able to do. It inspires everyone to know that he has been faithful in his promise to our Lord and Master who have actually gifted him with 36 more years and still going strong. Dato John quips that “every additional day I am alive is a bonus, it is the reason for me to serve Him through my fellow ostomates and cancer survivors.”

John Cardosa is on his second 3 year term as AOA President in his own right. In 1998, the then President, Hj Zainuddin Tahir of Malaysia, was unable to travel to IOA Executive Meetings due to illness, and deputized John Cardosa to attend IOA Executive Meetings in his stead.

Afterwards, he was elected AOA President in his own right in 1999 and served for 3 years until the Manila Conference in 2002. At the House of Delegates' Meeting in Manila, John Cardosa proposed Dr Harikesh Buch of Mumbai as the AOA President for the term of office 2002 to 2005. But Dr Buch refused to accept this position unless John Cardosa remained on the AOA Council as Secretary and Treasurer. John had to agree to those terms, and Dr Harikesh Buch, who was then an ileostomate of some 25 years' standing or more, was elected the AOA President, while John Cardosa served as Secretary and Treasurer of the AOA.

In 2005, at the Bangkok AOA Conference, he was again voted in as President of the AOA. So in actual fact, this is the third term John Cardosa is serving as AOA Presidency. Dato John Cardosa looks back at all the past years with gratitude as he decides to finally retire from the International Ostomy scene. Yet, he assures his people and friends that he will continue to be active in the Malaysian Ostomy Association, in the Hospice Movement, and in the Cancer Society for as long as he is healthy and able to serve his fellow ostomates and cancer survivors.

Note that, as can be seen from the tracheostomy tube in his throat in the photographs above, John has also survived cancer of the larynx, and uses a combination of esophageal and laryngeal speech, thus resulting in his own words, “in a very sexy voice.”

We wish you our sincerest greetings and prayers especially with the people you inspired during the conference here in Manila. God bless you and grant you good health in all your endeavors. Maligayang Kaarawan Sa Iyo… (Happy Birthday to you!)