Meet Wen Pei...

Wen Pei is the beautiful, smiley and fun-loving little girl of friends of ours, Edmund and Peng Eng:

In February this year, Wen Pei, just shy of her 10th birthday, was diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma.

In the frantic initial days of diagnosis, just before the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year), Wen Pei was subjected to extensive medical testing and procedures to determine the severity and spread of her cancer while her family waited for results with a mixture of anxiety, fear and trepidation. 

From the outset representatives from the Children's Cancer Foundation of Singapore ("CCF") stepped in to help. They were present when the doctors gave the family the prognosis and explained the course of treatment Wen Pei would undergo, as well as the side effects they could expect for her. They then provided support in various ways throughout Wen Pei's treatment and recovery.

Edmund and Peng Eng describe their journey:

"We are both extremely grateful to the CCF and all that they have given us throughout Wen Pei's diagnosis, treatment and recovery. They were available to us from the start, initially offering us not only comfort, but also advice on how to cope with this sudden change in our lives, and how to move forward.

Wen Pei was diagosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma in February 2013 and commenced treatment immediately. It is amazing how resilient children are. She remained positive and was always smiling, despite going through numerous medical procedures and the arduous routine of taking her many medications. Wen Pei suffered through a lot of pain, discomfort, fatigue and a long list of side effects. We found it amazing that despite being confined to bed covered in tubes, needles and with a porta-cath in her chest for her chemotherapy cocktail (administered over a 5 stage treatment plan) she was still smiling.

The side effects of the chemotherapy were very taxing for Wen Pei and very difficult for us to watch her endure. Her temperature, blood pressure and blood count would fluctuate, her appetite would drop causing her to lose weight, her stomach would churn at times, ulcers would break out in her mouth, and of course, she lost all of her hair.  

Each treatment would bring forth new and unpredictable outcomes. Some treatments which were scheduled to last for only 5 days were stretched out to 3 weeks due to the side effects preventing the treatment from continuing. On top of everything else Wen Pei was admitted twice into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) because of these side effects. To counter them and aid her low immunity she would have to take countless doses of antibiotics and went through 4 rounds of blood transfusions.

Through all this, representatives from CCF were there to support our family. They would drop in to visit Wen Pei and spend time playing board games and doing craftwork with her or reading to her. They gave her endless support and words of encouragement to help her stay focused in her fight against cancer.

When Wen Pei was discharged from hospital after finishing her fifth and last chemotherapy treatment in June this year she commenced classes at Place for Academic Learning and Support ("PALS") established by the CCF. The aim of PALS is to help children who are in recovery to integrate back into mainstream school. PALS is a transition program. 

This was a big and exciting step for Wen Pei who was very happy to be able to attend school classes again and be allowed outdoors. The environment at PALS is sensitive to the special needs of a person in early stage recovery by being well sanitised, offering special meals planned by a dietitian and by providing a supportive and understanding environment.

PALS conduct classes on subjects commonly taught in mainstream schools by teaching children in a fun and holistic way.  Wen Pei would be happily doing research and preparing powerpoint presentations on Bactrian camels, Adelie penguins, Paralympics, wedding practices in various cultures and the 7 wonders of the world, along with her standard maths work!  Best of all, she got to meet other children that had a similar story to her, interact with them, work with them on projects and most importantly, socialise again.

In August this year Wen Pei was given the all-clear to return to her mainstream school, another big milestone and one that we were so proud and happy to have achieved. Prior to her return, the CCF conducted a session with Wen Pei's classmates. Her condition still needed to be monitored closely at that stage and she will still wear the porta-cath device for the next 3 years so it was important her classmates understood the nature of her cancer and her needs so that they didnt ostracise her in any way and could feel comfortable themselves.

During the time of Wen Pei’s treatment when the oncology ward became our second home we met many children battling various forms of this disease, some far more serious than our daughter’s. We continue to keep these children in our prayers and we hope that the CCF will continue to reach out to these children during and after their cancer treatment, as they have done for Wen Pei. Their support was a big part of helping us through our journey to recovery.

Edmund and Peng Eng

Parents of Low Wen Pei