The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Meanwhile a Japanese doctor has asked Dhan Maya to urgently get a neck surgery done for herself
The news from Japan on Sonam Tamang’s health is not good, as her doctor has shared some negative health reports of Sonam Tamang with the mother.
Dhan Maya said, ““Every time I see Sonam’s doctor, I ask him about my daughter’s condition. The first time when I went to see the doctor to know about Sonam’s health, he said she is recovering from TB. The second time, he said that he wasn’t able to monitor the beat in her brain, as he wasn’t picking it up. And in the third meeting with the doctor, he said nothing except that she is still in the same condition. I don’t understand what he means,” said Dhan Maya.
Meanwhile Japanese social worker Yumiko Kan who has been helping Dhan Maya and accompanying her on several visits to check on Sonam Tamang said, “She (Sonam) is all skin and bones. She is only 30 kg. A week ago when I visited Sonam with her mother, the only thing Dhan Maya could do is cry and whenever she visits her daughter, she touches her head and calls to her to wake up but there is no response.”
It has been learnt that last year when the Labour and Human Resources Minister Lyonpo Ugyen Dorji visited Sonam Tamang in the hospital, the doctor had clearly explained Sonam Tamang’s critical condition and how Sonam Tamang’s family may have to make a critical decision on Sonam Tamang.
Bhutanese youth in Japan along with the Japanese supporters will send Sonam Tamang’s medical report along with Dhan Maya’s medical report to the Prime Minister of Bhutan in the next two weeks. Yumiko said they have also requested the hospital administration to provide the entire medical history of Sonam Tamang to be sent.
“The purpose for sending medical report to the Prime Minister of Bhutan is to let him know of Sonam’s condition, and as being the head of the government and also a doctor, he can decide what will be best for Sonam Tamang and her family,” added Yumiko Kan.
Despite the increasing odds, Dhan Maya is still hopeful that her daughter will make a recovery.
Her hope, however, is based on the fact that she is unaware of the full medical details of her daughter which this paper is also not sharing. One concern is her own poor health and so Yumiko and other Bhutanese youth and Japanese supporters are finding a way to give her the full details after Dhan Maya’s own neck surgery which she plans to do in Bhutan.
Given the severity of her medical condition, Dhan Maya plans on returning to Bhutan after three months to have a goiter surgery. A doctor in Japan has advised Dhan Maya to get surgery soon before her goiter case gets too complicated and leads to difficulties in breathing.
Dhan Maya said that the surgery would cost around 600,000 Yen to 800,000 Yen (Nu 450,000 to Nu 500,000), so she decided it would be economical to get the surgery done in Bhutan. She, however, plans to go to Japan after the surgery so she can be with her daughter.
Her medical treatment cost of 32,108 Yen so far has been paid by a Japanese social worker Yumiko Kan. Dhan Maya wanted to pay back the money but the worker said it was a donation.
Yumiko Kan, said Dhan Maya has 10 cm goiter and some liquid has accumulated in the goiter.
She said if Dhan Maya had more than three months duration visa then she would have had the travel insurance coverage to take care of her medical cost abroad.
The Japanese government covers 70 percent of the medical cost under such insurance cover, but as she does not have the insurance, the entire medical cost for her treatment will be charged to her. “Dhan Maya decided to do the operation back in Bhutan,” said Yumiko.
Meanwhile, Dhan Maya will have to look for another accommodation, as the Bhutanese youth sharing their apartment with her is likely to head back to Bhutan.
“I am afraid that I will have no place to stay if they leave, and it will be difficult for me. I cannot think of leaving my daughter behind, so if the government can let my son come with me after three months,” said Dhan Maya.
She is hopeful that if one of her sons can also join her in Japan then he can work and afford an apartment for them until her daughter recovers. “The living standard in Japan is very high. It is very expensive for every little thing. I don’t know what to do, and I get lost in thoughts everytime when I think of my daughter,” said Dhan Maya.
She has been asking around if there is a job that her son can do in Japan. “Pema, one of the Bhutanese here, said that to work in Japan, one does not need to have a high qualification. But he might need a letter from government for a working visa,” said Dhan Maya.
She said that it is best to keep Sonam Tamang in Japan. “Our Prime Minister said that it is better to keep my daughter here because of the health facility,” said Dhan Maya.
