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One night I had been playing with my baby, just before I had to put her down to sleep. But, my attention was suddenly drawn to her head, because something seemed very different about her. Her head looked visibly bigger, her forehead was larger, and it seemed like her eyes were bulging out.
Fluid build-up in her brain is causing her head to expand
The local hospital I approached the very next day asked me to take her to a bigger hospital, located 3 hours away from my home in Bhandara. I didn’t waste time, and with whatever money I had in my hands, I left for Nagpur with my baby. There I learned that she had something called hydrocephalus.Having had little to no education or medical knowledge, I had never even heard of such a thing before. “There is fluid accumulating in your baby’s brain”, the doctor told me about her congenital disease. “Her head is expanding because of the excess fluid, and it is also putting pressure on her brain. She needs to undergo surgery immediately, or she will suffer from severe complications.” All of it sounded bizarre and terrifying to me.
“Why me? Why my daughter? Why would God do this to me, knowing I was in no position to get her the help she needs?”, I wondered. But the one thought that really troubled me was, “Is my baby going to die?”. I couldn’t bring myself to ask the doctor this question, because deep down I knew what the answer would be - and if the doctor confirmed it, I wouldn't be able to handle it.
Will I ever get to see her walk or talk?
Today, she is 2 years old, but you wouldn’t be able to tell. She is yet to say her first words or take her first steps. She’s not like other babies her age, and it breaks my heart to see her like this. She is the sweetest little baby, and her smile gives me the strength to carry on. The light of my life is being robbed of her childhood, simply because I cannot afford her treatment.
How do I arrange for 16 lakh rupees, when we survive on farming?
My family gets by each day with just 200 rupees in our pockets. My husband abandoned us the moment he found out about our daughter's condition and the expensive surgery she would need. We have no support from him, whatsoever. I am thankful to have my parents and brother by my side during these trying times. But even if they were to toil the fields non-stop for the next several years, we still wouldn’t have enough to save Anushka.Our days pass us by in a blur, and the hospital has become our home now. We spend each day anxiously waiting for good news, but it never comes. We know that her surgery has been long overdue, and we just wish to free our daughter from this suffering. Having run out of all options, we are reaching out to you for help
As a parent, Sunita wishes to see her daughter, Anushka, grow and thrive like any other 2-year-old, and live a beautiful life. You are her last hope. She is single-handedly struggling to save her only child. Click here to donate.
