A Sister’s Love,
More than Skin Deep
StemLife Client | Thalassaemia Survivor
Nurizazi Husna, Age 12
“My illness took away most of my childhood. My sister’s stem
cells has given me the chance to live as a normal healthy adult.”
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N
urizazi Husna bt. Mohd Zaidi, the eldest
daughter of Mr. Mohd Zaidi b. Jusoh
and Mdm. Saliza bt. Mat Dam, was born on
3rd of August 2002 and was diagnosed with
Thalassemia major when she was four years
old. As a child, Nurizazi tended to have fever
quite frequently and standard medications
was unable to remedy her illness. After many
visits to various GPs, her parents decided to
get a third opinion and finally brought her for a
checkup at Salam Medical Centre. It was then
that they received the shocking news. Initially,
the doctor suspected Nurizazi as having
anemia and wanted her to go for several blood
tests. However, the final test results revealed
that Nurizazi’s yellowish pale complexion
was due to Thalassemia. No parent wished to
believe that their child had inherited a blood
disorder but, after analyzing their family
history, the doctor confirmed the diagnosis.
The doctor suggested Nurizazi’s parents to
refer their child’s case to University Malaya
Medical Centre’s (UMMC) medical experts in
Thalassemia and stem cell transplant.
Without further delay, Nurizazi’s parents
registered Nurizazi at UMMC and they
consulted with Prof. Chan Lee Lee. As a
Thalassemia patient, Nurizazi had to go for
continuous blood transfusions once a month
and this affected her appetite and school
sessions. There were times when there was
insufficient blood for all the patients, they had
no choice but to come back to the hospital
another day. Moreover, she was required to go
for iron chelation therapy - a painful procedure
requiring her to sit for several hours with a tube
in her vein to deliver the medication- to remove
the excess iron levels in her body. Additionally,
she needed to include folic acid supplements
in her diet. Overall, the basic cost of the
Thalassemia treatments that they had to bear
was about RM100 per month, but the social
costs -transportation to and from treatment
centers, lost time at school and exhaustion of
her parents- magnify this cost by many times.
“We had no idea what stem cell transplantation
was about. Luckily while we were getting
treatment for Nurizazi, I came across StemLife’s
brochure at UMMC. Besides seeking first-hand
information from the doctor, my husband and
I decided to contact StemLife’s representative
for a counseling session. We believe that we
made the right choice,” explains her mother.
Mdm. Saliza was pregnant with her third child,
they had decided to store their baby’s umbilical
cord blood (UCB) stem cells with the hope that
it could be used to cure Nurizazi. Unfortunately,
the HLA results did not match. Thus, Nurizazi
still had to undergo the usual treatments.
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“We were frustrated at first but, we were happy
to find out that our third child’s UCB HLA
actually matched our second child who had
Thalassemia too,” said Mdm. Saliza.
Good news came when Mdm Saliza delivered
her fourth child (Nur Izzlyn). Nur Izzlyn’s
HLA results showed a perfect match to
Nurizazi. After 7 years of battling with
Thalassemia, in early March last year, 11-year
old Nurizazi successfully underwent stem
cell transplantation using a combination of
her little sister’s bone marrow and UCB stem
cells at UMMC. The stem cell transplant was
performed by Dr. Shekar Krishnan and Dr. Lum
Su Han.
Two weeks before the transplant, Nurizazi
had to go for chemotherapy followed by the
transplant. After two months of quarantine,
she recovered and happily returned home.
Currently, she goes only for regular checkups
to monitor her red blood cell levels and ensure
there is no rejection of the stem cells from Nur
Izzlyn. Best of all, she no longer requires time
consuming and invasive blood transfusions.
She does need additional medications to
allow recovery of the hormones in her body.
According to Mr. Mohd Zaidi, the overall
costs for the stem cells transplant and
post-transplant treatment was roughly about
RM45,000.
“As a mother, seeing my daughter suffer
during every blood transfusion was very
painful. I am very happy that her health has
improved tremendously and I am really glad
that we made the right choice. We are thankful
for the great services offered by StemLife and
how the stem cell transplant has given our
daughter the chance to grow and behave like
normal kids of her age. I have since actively
recommended StemLife’s cord blood banking
service to my family and friends, especially
those with Thalassemia medical history as we
cannot foresee what the future holds,” said her
mother.
When asked about how she feels now, this is
what the 12-year old Nurizazi (whose maturity
belies her age) replied: “I feel much better and
happier. Now I can play with my friends without
feeling tired easily. Thank you StemLife and
UMMC.”
Nurizazi’s transplant is the 13th successful
release of cord blood stem cells by StemLife,
and we are absolutely delighted to have played
a part in ensuring her full recovery. We wish
her and her sisters a life filled with joy and
wonderful memories, as they face each day
strong, healthy and in each other’s company. r
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