On May 8, 2019, for Guo Yize, a little fighter grappling with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS), this day was far more than just his 100th day on earth. It was a day of profound rebirth, a turning point that would forever be seared into the annals of his life. WAS, an extremely rare X-linked recessive genetic immunodeficiency disorder, strikes only about 1 in every 100,000 to 1 million people. Triggered by gene mutations, it wreaks havoc on the immune system, leaving patients incredibly susceptible to recurrent infections, bleeding spells, and autoimmune maladies.
Yize's epic battle commenced when he was a mere 28-day-old infant. While other newborns were snugly cocooned in their mothers' loving arms, finding solace and warmth, Yize was plunged into a relentless maelstrom of medical procedures. Endless intravenous punctures, bone marrow biopsies, and the cold, unforgiving touch of medical instruments became his daily norm. Studies show that, on average, WAS patients endure between 3 to 6 severe infections before receiving a diagnosis. When Yize was rushed to the hospital, his oxygen saturation had plummeted to a dangerously low level, dipping below 85%, and his platelet count had nosedived to a critical 15 ×10y /L, a far cry from the normal range of 100 - 300×10y /L, teetering on the very edge of life and death.
"As a mother, it tears my soul apart that I can't shield my child from these agonies,” Yize’ s mother sobbed, her voice choked with guilt and despair. “Watching his skeletal frame and listening to his feeble, silent cries was a feeling of utter powerlessness that nearly devoured me whole.” To foot the exorbitant medical bills, the family had to borrow extensively, weathering a storm of disheartening advice to give up. But Yize’s parents remained unwavering in their resolve . “We brought him into this world, and we're duty-bound to fight tooth and nail for his life,” his mother asserted with fierce determination.
Hope finally flickered on the horizon when they heard of the renowned Dr. Sun Yuan, the director of Beijing Jingdu Children’s Hospital. Dr. Sun's hematology-oncology team boasted an outstanding track record, having successfully carried out over a thousand hematopoietic stem cell transplants . Their groundbreaking haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation technique had significantly hiked the success rate for WAS patients to over 85%.
Upon admission, Yize was in a critical state, tormented by high fevers, respiratory distress, and wildly unstable vital signs due to a severe infection. Under Dr. Sun's painstaking care, a comprehensive treatment regimen, including anti-infection therapies and immune modulation , gradually managed to steady his condition. In March 2019, Yize underwent a haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant, with his father as the donor. After the transplant, the menacing specters of rejection and infection loomed large, but the dedicated medical team, with their round-the-clock vigilance and precise interventions, shepherded Yize safely through these life threatening hurdles.
The transformation was truly miraculous. From a fragile 6.6 pounds to a healthy 12 pounds, from the precipice of death to stable vital signs, every incremental step forward filled his parents and the medical staff with overwhelming elation. Now, Yize chuckles merrily in the hospital room, his chubby cheeks radiating vitality. “Beijing Jingdu Children’s Hospital gave us hope and a complete family back,” Yize’s parents gushed, their eyes brimming with tears. “Every healthcare professional here treated our child as if he were their own, using their expertise and love to pull him back from the jaws of the disease.”
This “100-day milestone” is not only a testament to Yize’s indomitable spirit but also a powerful testament to how medical science, when fused with unwavering love, can rewrite the narrative of life and conjure up miracles
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