Lee Yuk Peng
The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Double heart transplant patient Tee Hui Yi is likely to be discharged from the National Heart Institute (IJN) in two weeks’ time.

If she had been able to finish her meals, gain more weight and take her medication on time, Tee could have been discharged on Saturday, the day she attended the IJN’s Deeparaya open house, said Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib, the heart and lung transplant unit clinical director.

However, the medical team at IJN still kept her warded as she only managed to finish half her meals most of the time, gained 2kg so far and was still unable to take medication on time.

Tee, 14, and her mother were also learning to identify the drugs that she needed to take and their side effects, said Dr Mohamed Ezani.

“She has gained 2kg, from 33kg when she underwent the transplant. She should be gaining more weight.

“She is also too manja (pampered) at times,” said Dr Mohamed Ezani, adding that she was good at bargaining with the nurses to take fewer drugs over longer intervals.

Other than that, the doctors were happy with her progress and a total of four biopsies conducted showed her body only had mild or no rejection to the foreign heart.

Her feeding tube was removed last Friday and Tee is currently having a no-bacteria diet.

“She does not take raw food and fruits have to be freshly cut,” said Dr Mohamed Ezani.

As for her favourite fried chicken, she would not be able to have it as it was a high cholesterol food.

“She will never get to eat fried chicken in IJN,” said Dr Mohamed Ezani.

At the open house, Tee got a chance to taste satay, rendang and briyani rice.

As for Siti Salmah Jasni, the country’s first double transplant patient, Dr Ezani said her condition remained critical and she was still warded at the intensive care unit of IJN.

She is unable to talk at the moment, but she could respond to doctors and family members.