Referral place found for Burkitt's patients...

A five year old girl showed up at the clinic gate in January of this year. About 6 months earlier her parents noticed swelling of her left jaw and took her to a government hospital in the south of the country where she was treated for a dental abscess. The tumor, however, continued to grow so the family came to Freetown. When the child arrived at our clinic the facial tumor was obvious; it was large, ulcerating and foul smelling. The child was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system, which in most cases responds well to chemotherapy. However, in Sierra Leone chemotherapy is expensive and often not in stock so it is difficult to find a place for these children to get treatment. Once they are admitted they cannot always complete the full course of chemotherapy due to expenses. We have even had new patients show up at our gate with intravenous cannulas still in place because the family ran out of money for treatment. Needless to say, these patients are desperate for help. And I was getting desperate to find a place for them. After making some phone calls, I was happy to hear that an NGO hospital, 2 hours outside of Freetown, was treating children with Burkitt’s lymphoma. After talking to the expatriate doctor at that hospital I referred the little girl. And a few weeks later on our way upcountry we stopped in to see her at the hospital. She had started treatment earlier that week and was already looking healthier. Her family was thrilled that we came to visit. She was discharged after about 6 weeks of admission and the hope is that she will continue to go back for follow-up and further chemotherapy. In the first six months of 2008 we have referred a total of 6 patients to this hospital for chemotherapy and I am very thankful for the collaboration we have with them. More stories to follow soon...