  urlLink Angelica, 2, needs a liver transplant By Joyce Mejillano Inquirer News Service DARAGA, Albay -- The fear of losing their fifth and youngest child to a liver illness haunts the Manzanilla couple like a nightmare. "I always fear that that day will come when I wake up only to find my daughter Angelica is gone," Leticia Manzanilla said in between sobs in their small house in remote Barangay Gapo in Daraga, Albay.
Angelica was diagnosed as having biliary atresia (a liver condition in which the bile ducts are absent, inflamed or unable to convey bile out of the organ) when she was still 6 weeks old. According to information from the Internet (www.liver.ca), biliary atresia begins in early infancy and causes damage to the liver due to the destruction of ducts, which connect the liver to the small intestine.
The patient's liver soon becomes cirrhotic and he eventually dies. The condition normally occurs in one in every 10,000 to 20,000 births, usually in a first-born baby girl. When she was 6 weeks old, Angelica had already undergone a six-hour operation to repair her bile ducts through the Kasai method at the V. Luna Memorial Hospital in Quezon City. That was the time her doctors noticed her condition. Due to financial constraints, the family decided to bring Angelica home in Bicol.
"The doctors prescribed her medicines for maintenance. Now, she takes six kinds of medicine and vitamins every day. So, we just now rely on medicines and, of course, our faith in God," Leticia said. She said they had also approached even traditional healers, but Angelica's condition had not changed. "She's very weak and malnourished. She eats limited food though it seems like she likes to eat almost anything.
She competes with her siblings in reaching for the food on the table," Leticia said. Early last month, Angelica suffered from high fever and flu, and was rushed to the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital. "I thought it was her time already. Every time she feels so different, we are all worried and think that it's already her time," Leticia said, crying. Angelica's doctor told the Manzanillas that the baby needed a liver transplant that would cost about three million pesos.
The Inquirer learned that the country did not have facilities for such a delicate operation, and the couple was told that in case the money was raised, the operation could be done in Korea, Taiwan or in any country abroad which has sophisticated medical equipment. Already financially drained from Angelica's costly medicines and other family needs, the couple said it was almost impossible to have the operation. "I felt dizzy when the doctor told us how much we need to have her operated," said Leticia, an elementary teacher.
Her salary usually goes to her child's medicines and other needs amounting to about 500 pesos a day, plus the unexpected cost of hospitalization every time her condition changes, she said. They appealed to Good Samaritans for help to save their daughter through prayers or financial assistance, or both. (Those who want to help Angelica may contact the PDI Southern Luzon Bureau, at tel. nos. (052) 8208402, (052) 8201989 or (052) 8205051. ) &nbsp; urlLink 
