“I am afraid of the night. Her cries get louder, and we just run from room to room, sometimes outside for walk to try to get her to sleep. It has been this was for over a month now. My daughter is so tiny for the pain she is in. If I hug her tight to console her, she screams and kicks. That is how I know that it hurts her even if I touch her.”
Nilkamal’s instinct as a mother was spot on when she felt her daughter was sick on the day she was born. Her doctor said the baby had jaundice and kept her for a day in NICU before discharge. It’s been 7 months since then, and Manasvi’s jaundice has only gotten worse. Despite Nilkamal consulting so many hospitals for treatment, Manasvi did not get help and now she could die without a liver transplant.
Time is running out to save baby Manasvi
“If we had gotten help right at the beginning, Manasvi would not have been in this situation. She cries day and night, not sleeping for more than an hour any day. Her liver and spleen are enlarged. Her stomach is bigger than her body. Her burp smells of medicines!”
Delay in diagnosis for 7 months has now put baby Manasvi’s life in grave danger
“When she was just over a week old, I took her to a local doctor in Bhadravathi. He said the baby does not have any jaundice. It was normal for newborns to be this way, and in fact she will thrive. I was not convinced. My daughter was not drinking milk. She kept crying day and night. She would not sleep and it continued for the next few months.”
They shuttled from city to city and hospital to hospital only in vain
When the parents noted that their child was not gaining weight, and still looked yellow, doctors convinced them that there was nothing to worry about. In December, at a Nagpur hospital, Manasvi had a blood test that showed that her bilirubin levels were abnormally high.“This is where for the first time someone said, ‘Yes, it looks like her liver has a blockage.’ We tried medicines. Nothing worked. We went to Gurgaon. There we found out Manasvi’s liver was damaged beyond repair and she needs a liver transplant. We got scared thinking of our baby getting a surgery. We looked for another opinion and arrived at Rainbow, Hyderabad."
Manasvi needs a liver transplant right away, everything is in place, except for money
The parents hoped that Manasvi’s condition could be resolved with medication. However, Manasvi’s condition did not improve. They had to accept that their child needed a new liver to survive, and this transplant is evitable. Nilkamal volunteered to donate, but it is not so easy.The transplant will cost Rs. 16 lakhs. After exhausting all their savings shuttling to various hospitals across North India, this family is left with nothing. Mahesh works in Indian Ordnance Factories associated with Defence. He makes about Rs. 25000/month. Even after using up his savings and insurance funds, he cannot afford to save his baby girl.
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“We do not have anyone in Hyderabad. We cannot stay there until we get the money. Right now, Manasvi has an infection for which she needs injections thrice a day. This itself is draining our funds. We are taking her back to Bhadravathi until we can find financial assistance for her transplant.”Unfortunately, Manasvi does not have a lot of time. Nilkamal and Mahesh are forced to crowdfund for her treatment as she is nearing a critical stage. They cannot lose their daughter to money, and request for help to save her life.