[Plz Read]...Do children also have cancer?

It is always an emotional moment to announce to concerned parents that their child is suffering from cancer. To briefly answer the question above, the answer is yes. Children also do have cancer. Children are unique and most of the cancers they suffer from are eminently curable. As with many other medical conditions. However, late presentation is often a challange. These children are brought to the hospital when all hope is nearly lost. They would have started off by visiting some nurse living in the neighbourhood or the local chemist where many treatments would have been administered prior to visiting the herbal drug dispenser before finally visiting the hospital. Sadly, it is when they arrive at the hospital that they become impatient, not wanting to carry out all the investigations requested and even worse, wanting something done immediately to remove the disease. These cancers have to be confirmed in a variety of ways: X-rays, scans, blood tests, urine tests and biopsies before a treatment plan is formulated for that individual. It is not a situation in which one diagnosis fits every patient.

The common cancers seen in children usually involve the kidneys,  liver,  urinary bladder, muscles the suprarenal gland which is a small organ that sits on top of the kidneys and very rarely, the long bones. Other cancers seen in children involve the white blood cell component of the blood and the lymphoid organs of the lymph nodes, spleen and liver. It is important to stress that parents need to be observant of their children as they grow up. There ought to be  no room for a situation in which parents are so so busy chasing their careers that they are unable to give reliable accounts of their children’s health status. These are diseases that do not simply arrive from nowhere but often take several months to develop. I have seen situations where it was a neighbour of a certain family that first observed that a child was unwell. This is scandalous to say the least.

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Basically, a child with cancer would become less and less active. He will be less energetic too. He will show certain swellings involving the affected part or at least, pointing to the affected part and there may be associated pain with attendant loss of appetite and excessive sleeping. Certain cancers which involve the intra-abdominal region will present with swelling. This is also the case with those involving the lymphoid organs. Children who suddenly develop swellings in the groin, arm-pits and neck at about the same time (swellings which feel like seeds) should see a  doctor without delay as should those who bleed from the gums or develop swellings in the joints or small boils resembling acne around their head and neck region.

This piece is not intended to make the reader attempt to diagnose these problems but to know by merely taking a glance that certain growths which shouldn’t not be where they are are seen are potentially dangerous and should as such be brought to a doctor’s attention with the minimum delay.

Finally, parents need to be assured that the competence to manage these conditions abound in Nigeria. They do not need to travel outside the country to get these services. The major problems faced by many is that they arrive late to the hospital and because they are anxious, they are often not listening to those who are administering the required care. They are convinced that there has been a delay in diagnosis or a wrong diagnosis has been made and so, they feel it is unworthy to pursue further treatment in a Nigerian hospital.

Nothing could be further from the reality and the consequences of delaying treatment while pursuing travel documents could be disastrous.

-Dr. Sylvester Ikhisemojie (sikhisemojie@ymail.com)

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