00:00A video of a 3-year-old boy from South Cotabato was captured by the hearts of many netizens.
00:12The boy's face was covered by a huge bump.
00:21Ellen's love for her son, Melan, cannot be measured.
00:28But how can her heart be crushed to see her son?
00:37In this current situation, the other part of Melan's face is almost covered by a huge bump.
00:47Her mouth can no longer be closed while her left eye can hardly be seen because of the huge bump.
00:56What did you do to the other kids?
01:04Sometimes, when she goes to sleep, she has a bacon in her mouth.
01:08She can't open her mouth.
01:12Sometimes, when I look at her, I just look at her.
01:16Did we see the baby, ma'am?
01:20This is the case that has been tagged and messaged many times in our program.
01:26This Sunday, Melan had a huge bump.
01:32Here in the town of Santo Nino in South Cotabato, Melan, a 3-year-old boy, lives with his mother, Ellen, and father, Erwin.
01:42Father!
01:47Despite Melan's condition, he grew up to be a smart and happy child.
01:53Daddy, look at me. I'm like this.
02:06Look at me.
02:09His playmate is his mother, Ellen.
02:13We are the only servants of our house.
02:17My husband works in the house.
02:22Because of her bump, Melan has a hard time speaking.
02:26I don't understand what Bibi Melan did to me.
02:30I'm the only one who feeds her.
02:32She also has a hard time eating.
02:34Even her favorite food is fried chicken.
02:38If she has a hard time eating, she takes it.
02:41Her mouth is itching, ma'am.
02:43She only eats the chicken.
02:46If I feed her, she doesn't like it.
02:50She can't control it, ma'am.
02:51She eats because she can't control putting it in her mouth.
02:55She can't control it, ma'am.
02:58She can't control it, ma'am.
03:00She throws up when she drinks.
03:03She always throws up in her mouth, ma'am.
03:06Walk.
03:07Come here.
03:08Come here.
03:09Come here.
03:10Come here.
03:11Come on.
03:12I'll do it.
03:26She can only wear stables or spaghetti to cover her face, ma'am.
03:34One day, we went to the bayou four or five times.
03:40The bayou is always wet.
03:45What color?
03:46Pink.
03:47Ah, pink.
03:48Okay, I'll get a pink one.
03:49Hurry up.
03:50Ah, pink.
03:51Huh?
03:52Pink.
03:53Huh?
03:54Huh?
03:55Huh?
03:56Look at the eyes.
03:57Look at the eyes.
03:58Keep walking.
03:59Now, Melan is a bit shy.
04:01Due to her short height, she often gets frowned at.
04:07What are you worried about?
04:09You're so young.
04:10Yes.
04:11She's so young.
04:12She's a baby.
04:13She's just a baby, ma'am.
04:16She's adjusting.
04:19She's hiding for her mom and dad to see her.
04:22He hid himself so that he wouldn't say that he was shocked when he saw the child.
04:27We were in the same neighborhood, ma'am, with his mother.
04:30One time, ma'am, when he was sleeping, he had a broken leg, ma'am.
04:34So we couldn't carry him.
04:37He could only see one eye, ma'am.
04:39That was his eye, ma'am.
04:40On the left, ma'am, that was the eye that he couldn't see because it was broken.
04:46We saw the baby, ma'am.
04:48He was a fighter, ma'am.
04:49If he was a different child, ma'am, he would have felt that he was the same as the baby.
04:54He would know how to eat, ma'am.
04:56He would just eat, ma'am.
04:59He would drink milk, ma'am.
05:08Melan was said to be healthy when he was diagnosed in 2022.
05:13But when he turned 10 months old, Melan had an accident.
05:17I was in the kitchen, ma'am.
05:19I just left the baby there on the table.
05:21Then he fell down, ma'am.
05:23He had a bruise on his face.
05:26Until he was noticed on the face of the child.
05:29He had a bump, ma'am.
05:32I took him to the preschool, ma'am.
05:33Then we noticed for a few days, a few weeks, ma'am,
05:37that the baby's bump was already there, ma'am.
05:39We had him checked up at the ENT.
05:42But when they had Melan tested,
05:44they found out that the bump on the child's face
05:48was not just a simple bump.
05:50He had a different tumor, ma'am.
05:52He needed to be biopsied.
05:53I referred him to a big institution in Davao City
05:57for further workup.
05:59The bump was biopsied
06:02and it was discovered that it has what is called
06:05ossifying fibroma.
06:09But due to the width and size of his bump,
06:13it is now called cherubism.
06:16It's occurrence is 1 in 1,000,000.
06:20The couple was relieved when they found out
06:24that it wasn't cancer and that it could be operated on.
06:28The doctor told us,
06:30we don't have 5 years left, ma'am,
06:31to operate on the baby.
06:33He was already injured, ma'am.
06:35The operation was not possible, ma'am.
06:37However, after a while,
06:40when Melan's bump was not operated on,
06:42it continued to grow.
06:45It was 2 years ago, ma'am,
06:46when a lot of things happened to the baby.
06:48Maybe he wouldn't be able to see again.
06:51Or maybe he would start suffering, ma'am.
06:58That's why the couple now wants a second opinion.
07:02If there's a chance, ma'am,
07:04for the hospital to operate on the baby,
07:06I would like to visit the baby first, ma'am,
07:08so that he wouldn't suffer.
07:10On Wednesday,
07:12we consulted Melan
07:15to a pediatrician in South Cotabato.
07:18The baby was malnourished.
07:20His weight is now 10 kilos,
07:23and it's not a normal weight for his age.
07:26According to the doctor,
07:27even though Melan's face is almost covered with tumors,
07:31it's still possible for him to grow.
07:33As the bump grows,
07:35it's hard for him to eat.
07:37It's hard for him to eat, ma'am.
07:41He won't be able to eat because of his bump.
07:44Next, our team brought Melan to Davao City
07:48to be examined by an otorhinolaryngologist,
07:52or ENT,
07:54Ear, Nose, and Throat, doctor.
07:58Let's put him here.
07:59The doctor clarified that the ossifying fibroma
08:03is not due to the accidental fall of Melan
08:06when he was just a shy baby.
08:07The real problem is the mutation.
08:10There's a problem with the gene
08:12that causes the wrong development of bumps
08:17on the face,
08:18on the cheeks,
08:19and on the jaw.
08:20Around 2 to 5 years old,
08:22when the bump grows,
08:24it's really aggressive.
08:25We need to put a hole in the neck.
08:28We can't let the airways and feeding
08:32get obstructed.
08:34Our program decided to have a check-up
08:37on Melan's bulging left eye.
08:40I can't say that his left eye is totally bulging.
08:43There's a chance that he might not be able to see
08:46because he can't open his left eye.
08:49What we can do to stop the bulging of the eye
08:54is to remove the tumor.
08:58We also brought Melan to a facial plastic
09:02and reconstructive surgeon.
09:04In terms of management,
09:06if it's just a bump on his cheek,
09:10there's a chance that he might not be able to speak.
09:14It's not a one-time, big-time thing
09:17that he'll be able to speak.
09:19It takes several surgeries.
09:22Each surgery is a whole new level.
09:26The condition of the child
09:27is now in grade 3,
09:29or the last stage of cherubism.
09:31At her age right now,
09:33we can't recommend surgery right away
09:36because of her tumor is aggressive.
09:39And if we do it,
09:41maybe his eye will get even bigger.
09:44It's better to optimize his weight
09:47before doing more serious surgeries.
09:50Don't cry, okay?
09:53We're worried about Melan
09:55because his eye is already big.
09:58This is the only time
09:59that I'm worried about his age.
10:02I'm worried that he might not be able to speak.
10:05Meanwhile,
10:06so that Melan can be happy,
10:17a group of people gave her a gift.
10:20We gave her clothes
10:22and toys
10:23so that we can make her happy.
10:26While the local government unit of Santo Nino
10:29promised to give an allowance
10:31for her check-up.
10:32Traveling allowance,
10:34and other incidental allowances
10:37will be provided by the LGO.
10:38I want to thank you
10:39for always taking care of my baby Melan.
10:43We can't do this anymore.
10:45He might get sick.
10:46We need your permission.
10:48Thank you so much.
10:59She's still very young,
11:00but Melan is already carrying a lot of weight.
11:11Let's join her
11:13in her great fight.
11:29Thank you for watching, Kapuso!
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