The country’s first ever cancer patient who underwent bone marrow transplant is recovering gradually at the Bone Marrow Transplant unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
The bone marrow transplant was carried on a blood cancer patient, Omar Ali, 52, a senior officer of Agrani Bank, on March 10 in DMCH.
A pool of national and international experts successfully conducted the transplant on Omar, who had been fighting a type of blood cancer called Multiple Myeloma since 2009.
Professor Dr MA Khan, head of the BMT unit, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday no major physical complications were faced by the patient in the last six days following the transplant.
It has been learnt that Omar Ali is very weak, but he can talk. He is living on liquids.
The number of WBC (white blood cell) and platelets are still very low in Omar Ali’s body.
“Omar Ali’s situation is not unexpected. We destroyed the entire blood cell before the transplant. So it’s like sowing seeds in an open field. Now new blood cells will be produced in the patient’s body,” said Prof Dr MA Khan.
The patients would recover within the next seven to eight days, he hoped.
A group of well-trained doctors, nurses and other staff have been taking all-out care of Omar Ali round the clock.
Amena Begum, wife of Omar Ali, has eagerly been waiting for her husband’s return home after completing treatment.
While talking to this correspondent, she said: “I would like to see my husband come back home, recovering from cancer.”
The wife said they spent Tk15 lakh on the treatment, but now the government had been providing almost all expenses of BMT procedure at DMCH.
She sought financial help from all as it would be impossible for her alone to bear the next follow-up treatment.
Dr Bimolanshu Dey, a blood cancer specialist at the MGH in Boston, USA, told the Dhaka Tribune the patient was recovering gradually.
There were a few side effects like fever and other complications, but they were usual, he said, adding that an international-standard healthcare was being given to the patient.
Omar Ali hails from Dap Jail Road from Rangpur district.
On October 20 last year, former health minister Dr AFM Ruhal Haque inaugurated the five-bed BMT unit and a high-tech BMT Laboratory at DMCH at a cost of Tk200 crore.