Odysseys of George

Having worked in a paediatric surgical unit and frequently get referrals from paediatric oncologist, I still cannot understand why should God allow children to suffer from such misery? Yes, it was a genetic mutation but it just feels wrong. As perfect a creation we seem to be, that is also how imperfect we could be. That is what I call the contradictions of life! That is the rule of life!

A young girl was wheeled into OT. She was 16 years old. She was born healthy and was well all the way till she reached 12 when she had reduced appetite and complained of occasional pain over the upper abdomen. Despite repeated medications, her symptoms never got better. However, probably because of her age, most of the private clinics reassured her that it was the common gastric. She felt lethargic most of the time and was unable to participate in sports as she was easily fatigue and occasionally breathless. She was admitted to the another Department with a super low blood count, a Hb or haemoglobin of 2.6gm%. Normal individuals would have a Hb of around 12gm%. She was losing blood somehow! She denied passing fresh or altered bloody stools. She did not have heavy menses. Despite her reduced appetite, she was eating a variety of food. A CT scan revealed a mass in the abdomen. Thus she was taken in for surgery. That is also where we were called in to assist, for this is what we found.

So, we got the parents and explained to them our findings and told them what we planned to do. She had a lobulated growth arising from almost two-thirds of the stomach and it had grown into the fatty apron which we call the omentum. There were also presence of nodules on the liver and elsewhere in the abdomen. This cancer has spread!

The stomach with the growth.

The inside of the stomach which shows 3 large ulcers which would have been the cause of her to have lost so much blood.

Anyway, the initial period post-operative was a little stormy but everything settled down and the pretty young lady has gone home well. As she left the ward, I cannot help but wonder how long does she have to live and how long will it take before one of those nodules grow and give her problems as it had already spread elsewhere in the abdomen?!

Lesson: If your symptoms persist despite medications, please insist on further check-up or seek a specialist aid. Gastric and “Angin” or “wind” is a term used very loosely in our public and could mean many things, so be aware!

Any takes on what is that growth?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 3:49 pm and is filed under Medical, Life, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.