Thứ Ba, 6 tháng 11, 2012

 The cry from man with bizarre skin disease

VietNamNet Bridge - A strange disease has completely transformed a healthy man into a "mutant" man with bizarre shapes.

The "haunted" disease


Dien (middle) when he was still healthy.


Dien at present.

Van Viet Dien, in hamlet 6, Minh Lap commune, Chon Thanh district, Binh Phuoc province, is suffering the pain from a bizarre disease which surfaced more than one year ago. With a bald body with dark patchy bruises, the 42-year-old man makes people shudder.

Late afternoon, I stopped in front of the house of Van Viet Dien. Dien sat on a swivel chair. He looked as a lifeless man. His body was cringed. He tired eyes looked through the crack in the door.

Since he caught the strange disease, Dien has had only one habit: lying in the bed or asking his wife to take him to the door to see people passing by and to expose him to the sun. Seeing a stranger, he slowly raised his eyes and sighed. Dien’s wife, with an austere face, changed the dressing for her husband.


Dien’s wife told us the story through bitter tears: "We did not do anything wrong but why does the god treats our family this way! I do not know when the villagers began calling my husband by a scary name "the man with the evil body." Actually, those who do not know Dien will feel scared when they see him in the current figure.

Dien’s life, in addition to his family, is the desolation inside the four walls of darkness, separated from the outside world, without voices and laughter.

Dien’s wife, Ung Thi My Hanh, recalled the very tough time of her husband. More than one year ago, Dien’s ankles were swollen. Hanh thought this disease was simple and there was nothing to worry about. She told Dien to visit a private clinic near their home.



Dien and Hanh in their wedding.

A doctor named Le Thanh Hung wrote a prescription for Dien. However, after a few days, Dien had a prolonged fever. He saw Doctor Hung again. The doctor said Dien had dengue fever. He took a lot of medicines but he was still ill. Dien was brought to the Tropical Disease Hospital in HCM City and was diagnosed with allergy of medicines. He was then moved to Cho Ray hospital but after nearly two months of treatment, the illness still had no relief.

At this time, he did not feel pain but his body was covered by a layer of rough skin. Doctors made different diagnosis. Some said he was allergic, some others said he got septicemia, lung empyema, or Steven Johnson syndrome, a very rare disease and very difficult to treat.

To treat his unknown disease, the family sold all their property. More than VND300 million ($15,000) was spent. The family was financially exhausted and they had to bring Dien home.

Now, Dien’s skin is now peeled off like a snake and he has buzzing in his ears. After only a short time, Dien lost 40kg, from approximately 70kg to 30 kg.

"In August 2011, his skin was completely peeled off. In May, this situation stopped but pimples and speckled spots appeared. Our family is helpless now because we have spent everything we had and have visited all hospitals. I think only magic can help him recover," Hanh said in tears.

Being driven away because of the strange disease
 

Her husband is sick while the family is financially exhausted, but their neighbors looked Dien with different eyes, because of his unknown disease. They thought that Dien was "possessed."

Based on the blood tests, doctors of Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital, HCM City, said that Dien’s disease was caused by parasites from dogs and cats.

Specifically, there are four parasites in Dien’s body: E.HISTOLYTITA (amoeba), Toxocara SP ascarid, stronryloides stercoralis eelworm and Cystycrose tapeworm. The parasites are now in his lungs, so the treatment is very difficult and requires a huge cost.

Last year, many people thought that Dien could not live for another year. Taking off his shirt, Dien looked like a peeled peach. At the age of 42, he looked shrunken, super thin, as a piece of wood. All day he stays at home and does not contact anyone. In the talk with us, he could speak several words and kept silence. We had to write questions on a piece of paper. Sometimes, when he was healthy, he picked up a pen to write several letters to reply. We had to talk with him through the "interpretation" of his wife.

Hanh and Dien hired a kiosk of a local man to open a small shop and live there but several months ago, the landlord asked them to leave, because he was afraid of Dien’s unknown disease.

Some people who previously learned the motorbike repair job from Dien contributed money to build a small house for the couple. However, in the future, this house may be sold to pay bank loans.

Ms. Hanh said without that strange disease, her family would have been different. Previously, Hung was a motorbike repairer and he had many students.

These days, Dien’s disease was more painful. His daily life is completely relied on his wife.


"I do not know where to rely on. Both children have asked me to quit school because I cannot pay school fees for them," Hanh said.

Any help from readers, donors, should be sent to: Van Viet Dien, 42, Hamlet 6, Minh Lap commune, Chon Thanh district, Binh Phuoc province. Tel: 01666849068

Mai Lan

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