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Monday, Mar 16, 2009
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A childhood racked by pain

Shilpa Sebastian R.

Angelica, who is on oxygen, is being tube fed

On her first birthday, Angelica was admitted to a hospital with an epileptic attack
Her health worsened in 2006 when she started vomiting blood

In pain: Angelica needs nebulisation every half hour

BANGALORE: Everything was seemingly normal for Johnny Anthony Fernandes and his wife Maria who were looking forward to the birth of their first child. And one day, at the beginning of the ninth month, the movements of the baby stopped.

Maria was rushed to hospital, where doctors tried to “revive the baby’s movements by giving the mother a lomodex injection”.

Heart attack

“Immediately my wife had a heart attack, an epileptic attack and an asthma attack. Then her blood pressure dropped so low she slipped into coma, her systems failed and she was put on ventilator. It was in her second day of coma that Angelica was born,” recalls Mr. Fernandes.

“We knew that something was wrong with Angelica, now 10 years old, for she did not reach the development milestones. “She could barely eat or drink and no one was able to diagnose the reason for her poor appetite,” says Ms. Fernandes, who regained consciousness a few days after childbirth. On her first birthday, Angelica was admitted to a hospital with an epileptic attack.

Severe

“It was so severe the doctors said she would not survive,” says Mr. Fernandes, a freelance financial consultant. He has not been able to work and his wife too quit her job as a teacher to tend to their child. Angelica’s medical reports show that she was admitted over 30 times for convulsions. Her parents had some hope when they met a doctor, Jagdish, in Mysore, who runs the Jug Therapy Centre.

“She did not have epileptic attacks and was subjected to physiotherapy. She almost started to walk and stand and hold her head, which she did not do earlier,” says Mr. Fernandes. But her health worsened in 2006 when she started vomiting blood.

“Then it was diagnosed that she had multiple bleeding ulcers in her stomach and also that her food passage had shifted. A feeding tube was inserted into her stomach so we could feed her with food and medicines,” says Mr. Fernandes.

In January 2008, she was back on a ventilator and after 51 days in hospital, the doctors said it was just a matter of time. Angelica’s health has been deteriorating gradually. She is now on oxygen and needs nebulisation every half hour. Her kidneys have enlarged and one leg has come out of her hip joint.

She cries in pain when she is lifted up to get her diapers changed or while being bathed. She cannot talk and smiles rarely.

“As parents, our effort is to keep her comfortable and help her transition into the other world peacefully,” says Mr. Fernandes, who works round-the-clock with his wife caring for Angelica.

Help

They say they spend approximately “Rs. 30,000 a month” and are looking for financial help. Mr. Fernandes can be contacted on 9844036576.

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