Dr. Mae Concepcion J. Dolendo dreamed of becoming a physician when she was only 9 years old. She was 17 when her dream became stronger – that was when her mother died of breast cancer. “It was a difficult, life-changing experience that maybe led me to where I am now,” she told us.
To make the long story short, she became a doctor, got married, had two children and came to Davao City, the home place of her husband, Engr. Gabriel de la Cruz Dolendo (she was from Iloilo). In 1995, she did her pediatric residency at Davao Medical Center (which is now known as Southern Philippine Medical Center) and completed her training in 1998 as chief resident.
“Davao Medical Center at that time was just like most public hospitals: dark, dirty with lots of patients and inadequate facilities and resources,” she recalled. “It was very daunting and if not for my father in law, I would not have chosen to go there. He convinced me that I would get the best training from DMC and it will make me a very good doctor.”
Then, Singapore beckoned. “I never had plans of leaving the country,” she said. “I just wanted to stay here and help. Working with marginalized families as a pediatric resident in a public hospital further cemented this determination to help others.”
However, her husband thought it would be best for the family to be together. “Singapore had the best schools in Asia and it would be good for the children,” she said. “I was also contemplating of going into pediatric subspecialty training and thought that maybe i would get very good training in Singapore which is in the forefront of medical care.”
Dr. Dolendo spent another year of pediatric rotation at the National University Hospital in Singapore. “My initial interest was in gastroenterology but after spending time with the pediatric oncology team I decided it was the kind of doctor I would like to be,” she said.
She was captivated by what Prof. Quah Thuan Chong — whom she describes as “my inspiration and role model” — was doing. “I was very impressed to see children with cancer being cured and I was inspired by the compassionate, intelligent and hard-working team looking after these children,” she said. “I wanted to learn how to be a pediatric oncologist so I can help children with cancer in Davao. I did not know pediatric cancer was curable. Most of the children with cancer I cared for back home died and to me, being able to save these children was something worth doing.”
In 2004, she decided to return to Davao. When her friends – who were mostly Chinese – learned that she was going back to her native land, they threw her a farewell party. “Actually, there were several parties,” she says. “And for each party, they gave me a red envelope or hongbao.”
Dr. Dolendo accumulated a significant amount from the said gifts. Instead of spending it on material things, she decided to use as seed money for the Davao Children’s Cancer Fund, Inc., which she registered the same year she returned.
“Childhood cancer is curable,” says Dr. Dolendo, who is the head of SPMC’s Children’s Cancer and Blood Diseases Unit (CCBDU) “But the treatment may take several months and even years for some. I think one of the major stumbling blocks in the treatment and cure among children with cancer is the lack of access to health care institutions that can provide multispecialty care.”
Despite the fact that there were two very good specialists before 2004 at the SPMC, there was no dedicated infrastructure for pediatric cancer. “Diagnostic facilities were pretty basic,” Dr. Dolendo said. “Treatment was paid mostly out of pocket; patients and families stay in the ward for long periods of time due to lack of places to stay in Davao; and even if patients were diagnosed most of them dropped out of treatment because of the length of treatment.
“Families were exhausted financially and emotionally,” Dr. Dolendo added. “Survival was less than 10% because of financial incapacity and treatment abandonment.”
Something must be done somewhere. So, Dr. Dolendo helped convince SPMC to convert an old dorm within the compound into what is now known as the House of Hope. It was renovated to serve as a transient home for children with cancer. “Every year, almost 150 new patients from all over Mindanao come to seek treatment at SPMC,” she reported.
In 2007, the House of Hope, a single-floor facility with seven rooms, was launched. Since then, more than 2,000 patients and 4,000 caregivers have benefited from its clean and wholesome environment. Two caregivers are allowed for each patient; the caregivers help keep the house and its environment clean in exchange for a free stay.
Those who stay at the House of Hope are not only from the far-flung places of Davao region; some come from provinces as far as Zamboanga, Cotabato, Saranggani, and Surigao. “In fact, there are those from the Visayas and even from Luzon who came here for treatment,” Dr. Dolendo said.
“We monitor our patients closely after treatment,” she said. “Chances of relapse is higher during the first two years and we sigh with relief after 5 years but we consider ten years without relapse as cure.”
Its data for six years (2008-2014) showed that for acute lymphoblastic leukemia alone, the overall survival is 59% over 6 years. “This is quite good considering majority of our patients come from marginalized families and would not have a chance at all for cure taking into account the total cost of treatment,” she said.
Pediatric solid tumors require more resources inasmuch as they entail surgery, chemotherapy and even radiotherapy; average overall survival is about 50% across tumor types. Late stage presentation, treatment noncompliance and abandonment are still major challenges but providing cure for children with cancer does not happen overnight even in the best places.
“We have patients from 2004 who have passed the 10-year mark but we are still in the process of going back now that we have better data management support to collect data so we can get the total picture,” Dr. Dolendo said.
Most people believe that being diagnosed with cancer is a death sentence. This is the reason why “Survivor’s Day” is being held every December 8.
“We asked those who completed treatment and survivors of child cancer to return to provide inspiration for other patients undergoing treatment,” Dr. Dolendo said. “They are living proof that childhood cancer is indeed curable.”
