“This Eid indeed was special for my family. Suhana is doing fine now, and will be discharged in a day or two. However, we are still struggling very badly to get funds to pay to the hospital. We have received about Rs 6 Lakhs from the Tata Trust in Mumbai. We have nearly Rs 14 lakhs to be paid for the operation itself,” said Azad Alli Adam Shaikh, Suhana’s father, a BEST driver by profession .
On August 7, My Medical Mantra had first reported about Suhana, when her family was struggling to get a donor heart for her heart transplant and gather funds for the same. She was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy; Suhana was in a dire need of a heart transplant after her heart functioning capacity dropped to 10 per cent.
Currently, Suhana is undergoing post-operative treatment at the Fortis hospital in Mulund, where she was operated upon.
While talking to My Medical Mantra, Shaikh said he is worried about meeting the expenses required for the immunosuppressant that she will have to take life-long to avoid her body from rejecting the transplanted organ.
Azad’s monthly salary is Rs 18,000. “She will need immunosuppressants (drugs or medicines that lower the body’s ability to reject a transplanted organ) her entire life. They cost about Rs 20,000 per month. However, for the next six months, the cost of her medications will be around Rs 30,000. We hope some good souls come ahead and help us with the funds,” he added.
The Mulund resident had to discontinue his daughter’s school after she was diagnosed with the end-stage heart disease and bed ridden ever since then. “Since April 2017, she was hospitalised five times. We are happy that our daughter has got a new lease of life,” said Suhana’s father.
Even though the funds for her heart transplant were not in place, the hospital decided to go ahead with the surgery because of her deteriorating condition.
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Who is Suhana Shaikh?
Suhana is a teenage girl, who resides in Mulund, she was diagnosed with end stage heart disease in April, 2017. Since then, the otherwise cheerful and active girl has been bed bound, said her father.
Ajadalli Adam Shaikh is a BEST bus driver by profession and earns around Rs 18,000 a month. Suhana was donated a heart by a 47-year-old woman who was declared brain-dead in Fortis hospital due to intra cerebral bleed.