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Emily Garcia: A very ill maid stuck in UAE who faces bleak future
With dangerously low blood platelet levels, she can’t fly as cabin pressure could pop a blood vessel in her brain.
Dubai — Emily Garcia, 53, feels cornered in a city where opportunities are usually rife. Struck down with a debilitating illness last year, she has been unable to fly back home to her family in the Philippines since.
“The doctor said it is too dangerous right now. The pressure in the plane’s cabin could pop a blood vessel in my brain. So what can I do?”
Garcia suffers from immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), an autoimmune disease which affects the blood platelets. Diagnosed with the condition in June 2014, she now struggles to live the active life she is used to.
Working as a maid for a local Emirati sponsor, her Dh1,500 a month salary and lack of medical insurance means she is struggling to finance the medical treatment she desperately needs.
“My employer has helped me out a lot but like me, he is ill. He has leukemia so is unable to support me. He still pays my monthly wage, even though I can’t work as much as I used to.”
In adults, ITP is usually a lifelong condition, but many who suffer from it experience little to no symptoms prior to diagnosis.
For Garcia, this wasn’t the case. “I started to notice heavy bruising all over my body. Every time I lightly hit myself on a desk or wall, the bruising would immediately appear.”
Symptoms worsen
She grew even more concerned when the symptoms quickly worsened. “I woke up one morning and my eyes were red and swollen. I had a really bad headache, too. That’s when I decided to go to my doctor for a check up.”
After taking Garcia’s blood and analysing the results, the doctor immediately transferred her to Dubai Hospital. “My platelet count at that time was six. It should be between 140 and 400.” At the hospital, Garcia began receiving steroid treatment in the form of a pill. Funded by herself, with help from her employer, her body responded well to treatment initially, but after month, it simply “stopped responding” to it.
Over the next several months, Garcia tried a number of different treatments. However, with doctors describing her situation as “unique” and “very tricky”, her body rejected all forms of medication, except one — the Nplate injection.
Nplates are used to prevent bleeding episodes in patients with ITP and Garcia responded well to treatment. She now requires one weekly injection for the next three and a half years, but at a cost of Dh4,300 per week, she was forced to stop treatment.
Since then, her platelet count has dropped down to five, and the bruising has started to reappear. “It is too hard for me to pay for this treatment on my wage, so I had to stop the injections. I wish I could just go back home for treatment and be with my family but I can’t even do that.”
Ray of hope
In October 2014, Garcia presented her case to Dubai-based charity Whatever It Takes. Initially, the organisation managed to negotiate four weeks worth of free sample injections from the drug company, Amgen. Garcia received a further four weeks of injections from the same company but since then it has been difficult to obtain more.
Speaking to Khaleej Times on Tuesday, licensing director for Whatever It Takes, Salma Saikaly, said it is vital Garcia begins treatment again. “Lack of treatment increases her risk of bleeding out. She can easily have a blood vessel burst in the brain and if that happens, she could die.”
Although Saikaly has applied to the Red Crescent and Patient’s Friends for support, her pleas have so far gone unanswered. “I have been going from place to place to get her medication. The staff at Dubai Hospital have been fantastic with their support but their hands are tied without any financial support.”
She said with many of these charities, ITP does not fall under their list of supported ailments, so it is difficult for them to provide support. “I have spoken to one of the representatives for Patient’s Friends and they hope to add ITP to the list in the next few months. If that happens, we can get Garcia some of the financial aid she needs for the injections.”
For now, it’s simply a waiting game. But as every minute ticks by, Garcia’s platelet count continues to drop to dangerously low levels. “If I can just get my platelet count up to a safe level, then maybe the doctors will let me go back home and be with my family. Without the injections I’m stuck here alone, scared for my future.”
kelly@khaleejtimes.com
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