Adham's Story

Adham joined Watsi on July 1st, 2016. Seven years ago, Adham joined our Universal Fund, supporting life-changing treatments for a new Watsi patient every month. Adham's most recent donation traveled 4,500 miles to support Sa Ki, a mother and refugee from Thailand, to fund surgery to heal uterine myomas.

Impact

Adham has funded healthcare for 64 patients in 11 countries.

Patients funded by Adham

Meet Sabina: a married mother of six children aged 23, 16, 12, 10, 6 and 4 years from Malawi. She is a farmer together with her husband. Her first child is married with one child and the rest of the children are in primary school except the last born who is yet to join school. Sabina likes chatting with her children and enjoys eating nsima made from maize flour with vegetables. Sabina was well until 18 months ago when she noted a small lump on her right breast that was not painful. She visited the nearest hospital where she was referred to Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) for further assessments. At KCH, different tests were done, and a diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma was made followed by four cycles of neo-adjuvant therapy during September 2023. Sabina was later scheduled for surgery that same month, but unfortunately she did not report back since her last child was sick and admitted to the hospital for malaria. On January 16th this year, Sabina went back to KCH where she was referred to our medical partner's care center PIH for a modified radical mastectomy. Of late, Sabina has been experiencing needle pricking pains that are becoming unbearable without pain-relieving medications plus backache, weakness, and leg & chest pains affecting her farm work plus household chores. Sabina believes the surgical operation will help her get back to her normal condition and for her to continue taking care of her children and resume her farm work. Sabina said, “It is better to remain with one breast than have two with problems, I will move on with one breast.”

$1,194raised
Fully funded

Wine is a three-year-old boy who lives with his parents and siblings in Karen State - an area of Burma that is in a state of crisis and conflict. Wine’s father is a construction day laborer and his mother stays at home with Wine and his siblings. Wine's older brother lives in Bangkok and his sister lives in Shan State and is able to send Wine's household money every month. His other four siblings are students. Wine was born in 2019 with a condition called hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus is caused by a brain malformation or birth defect that causes excessive cerebrospinal fluid to accumulate in brain cavities. Cerebrospinal fluid is a clear, colorless liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, protecting them from injury. It carries nutrients to the brain and spinal cord and takes away waste. In a healthy person, the amount of this fluid produced by the brain is absorbed by the body. In hydrocephalus, the fluid fails to drain and accumulates, leading to pressure on the brain. Wine's symptoms include a lump on the bridge of his nose. His eyes frequently water, and he cries a lot when he is in severe pain. Additionally, his head is gradually increasing in size as the fluid continues to build. The condition is most often treated by inserting a shunt. The shunt diverts excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the brain to another part of the body where the fluid can be reabsorbed. Wine visited a doctor when he was born to address the issue. While he was in the process of receiving treatment across the border at a hospital in Thailand, the Thai-Burma border shut down due to the outbreak of COVID-19. With the closure of the Thai-Burma border, Wine and his family could not go back to his follow-up care. Fortunately, after the Thai-Burma border reopened, Wine was able to meet with our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund (BCMF). Wine received a CT scan at Mae Sot General Hospital and the doctor was able to diagnose the issue and scheduled Wine to undergo surgery immediately on June 2nd. BCMF is now requesting $1,500 to help fund this procedure. Wine's mother said, "I want him to be able to walk, sit, and be healthy like other children his age. My husband and two of my children work, so I can take good care of Wine. I cry a lot whenever I see Wine suffering from pain, but now I feel like I no longer have to shed a tear for him because of that. I don’t want to be rich, nor do I want him to be rich. I only want Wine to be healthy and happy."

$1,500raised
Fully funded

Zaw, who is 29 years old, lives with his wife and extended family members in Karen State, Burma. He and his wife are currently unemployed, although Zaw hopes to work as a second-hand motorbike seller. Zaw has had an irregular heartbeat since he was 10 years old. Although he visited a local clinic as a child, he was never provided a definitive diagnosis. By January 2022, he began to experience fatigue. His back and neck were stiff, and he lost his appetite. He also had difficulty sleeping, experienced a persistent cough and body aches, and his lips turned blue. After multiple hospital visits, Zaw was told he had a heart condition that required surgery. Unable to afford surgery in Burma, Zaw sought affordable care at Mae Tao Clinic (MTC) in Thailand. With the help of our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, he received a free echocardiogram, which revealed he had mitral valve regurgitation, atrial valve regurgitation, pulmonary valve regurgitation, and patent ductus arteriosus. He is now scheduled for a procedure at Kasemrad Prachachuen Hospital in Bangkok on April 18th to repair or replace three of his valves and address any other issues with his heart. Currently, Zaw continues to experience fatigue, thus he is unable to work. He experiences shortness of breath and a racing heartbeat, for which he requires oxygen therapy three times a day. He needs your help to raise the $1,500 to fund his life-changing surgery. Zaw said: “I want to be free from this disease as soon as possible. Thank you all for helping with my treatment cost.”

$1,500raised
Fully funded