CAVITE, Philippines – At the height of the dengue epidemic in the Philippines last year, Kriska and Ralph Gatdula became parents to baby boy Phil Kompton. Every day since has been a race to keep him alive.
Born in August 2019, Kompton has been battling a liver disease for some 8 months now. This was made more difficult by the dengue outbreak last year, which filled up hospitals and drained health resources.
It got worse as the Philippines faced the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Since the lockdown in Luzon in March, many patients have struggled to access treatment due to the lack of transportation and unavailable health workers for non-coronavirus cases. (READ: Cancer patients struggle with getting treatment during pandemic)
Start of the battle
At two weeks old, baby Kompton was diagnosed with pneumonia. He was undergoing treatment in the hospital for 8 days when the doctors found out that he also has dextrocardia.
Dextrocardia is a rare congenital heart condition in which the heart points toward the right side of the chest instead of the left. Aside from that, the doctors also found out that baby Kompton’s liver was inverted in size with an enlarged left lobe, and that his gallbladder was missing.
The symptoms started to show when he was one month old. Baby Kompton had jaundice, a condition where the skin, whites of the eyes, and mucous membranes turn yellow.
All of these happened at the height of the Philippines’ dengue epidemic in 2019, which made it harder for his parents to find a hospital since the ones in their hometown in Cavite were at full bed capacity.
Kriska and Ralph had to check every hospital from 7 pm to 4 am just to check for available rooms.
Despite the epidemic then, they strived to continue Kompton’s check-ups and laboratory tests.
Baby Kompton’s results pointed to 2 probable liver diseases: biliary atresia or cholangitis. Biliary atresia is a condition in which the bile can't flow into the intestine. This builds up in the liver, later damaging it. Cholangitis, meanwhile, is an inflammation of the bile duct system.
While confirmation of the disease is pending due to the coronavirus pandemic, the family found out that baby Kompton will still need an immediate liver transplant if he wants to live beyond two years.
Coping amid a pandemic
It's become more difficult for the family to maintain baby Kompton’s medications during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to the outbreak, Baby Kompton’s weekly tests at the hospital has been deferred. These were supposed to check the condition of his liver while they prepare for the transplant.
Last April, baby Kompton suddenly started to poop blood. The family had to travel from Cavite to Laguna just to be admitted in a hospital. (READ: 'Walang choice': Man with leukemia walks to get chemo meds amid Luzon lockdown)
The eight-month-old baby was transfused with blood thrice. Because of the scarcity of supply and donors, the Gatdula family had to secure blood all the way from Mandaluyong and other parts of Luzon.
Getting medical supplies for the baby has also been a struggle for the family. They need to go back to the hospital daily, cross borders, and hurdle checkpoints just to get medications they need.
"When we overcome the dengue epidemic, I believe it was God's way of saying that He will not leave us alone and for the 2nd time when Kompton was admitted this COVID-19 pandemic, He never let us down again," Kriska said.
After baby Kompton was discharged from the hospital, the family found out that they can now prepare for a possible liver transplant after the lockdown is lifted.
Kriska is one of the viable donors for her son. The transplant and medications, however, come with a hefty estimated price of P5 million.
Keeping up with Kompton
Given the huge amount needed for the transplant, baby Kompton’s parents went on social media to gather funds, creating a Facebook page named “Keep It Up Kompton.”
The family has led fundraising projects through the page by selling blankets, clothes and food.
The family has also started selling raffle tickets as part of their fundraising initiatives, where people get the chance to win gadgets and home appliances.
They’ve recently launched the #MyKoolMomma photo-liking contest to gather more funds for the transplant as well. Through the contest, people can submit a photo of their mom with a simple message for P100. Those with the most likes will have prizes ranging from P500 to P2000.
According to Kriska, they have already raised P500,000 but it is still far from their P5-million goal.
Those who want to help baby Kompton can also donate to the Gatdula family’s bank accounts:
BPI
Kriska Marie R Espiritu
Account number: 8499287187
BPI
Ralph Philip Gatdula
Account number: 8169032387
"We always wish that this pandemic will end soon so we can resume our routine check-ups and clearances to move on to the next stage. It's gonna be a long way to go and we are still praying for healing not just for Kompton but for the entire nation affected by COVID-19," Kriska said in a Facebook post. – Rappler.com
Nicole Anne del Rosario is a former Rappler Intern. She graduated with a degree in AB Communication from De La Salle University-Dasmariñas.