Times of Eswatini

Child with rare disease needs urgent help

- Thokozani Mazibuko

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S– Hlobsile Gumedze is appealing for urgent financial assistance from members of the public to save the life of her grandson, *Sabelo (4).

Gogo

According to Gogo Gumedze, *Sabelo has been battling with a rare liver disease from May last year.

“My grandson started by vomitting blood and his stomach began swelling” said Gogo Gumedze.

*Sabelo’s grandmothe­r disclosed that due to the severity of the disease, the child was pulled out of school as he spent almost the whole year admitted to hospitals.

sickness

“What disturbs us as a family is that the local doctors have failed to find what really is behind his sickness. CT scans, blood tests have been run numerously but the doctors have failed to get to the root of the disease.

“The local doctors have agreed that *Sabelo’s condition can only be examined in the Republic of

Gumedze (R pic), the child’s grandmothe­r pictured during the interview.

Gogo

South Africa.

‘‘They disclosed to us that they cannot treat what they do not know and advised us to scavenge for E15 000 in order to pay for the services of a specialise­d doctor,” said Gogo Gumede in an interview this week.

Gogo Gumedze said that the life of the child was hanging in the balance, as the stomach kept on swelling.

“He is number 136 on the Phalala list of beneficiar­ies and if not examined and treated urgently, we might lose him, as this disease seems to be deadly,” narrated Gogo Gumedze.

*Sabelo’s parents are unemployed while Gogo Gumedze is surviving on the E1500 elderly grant which is paid on a quarterly basis.

The four-year-old has been reeling in pain for a whole year now. Esophageal varices is the name of the liver condition.

Gogo Hlobsile Gumedze is appealing to emaSwati to financiall­y assist and save the life of her grandson. “Any amount is acceptable and my MTN contact is

7689 0809. about the disease

Esophageal varices are dilated submucosal distal esophageal veins connecting the portal and systemic circulatio­ns.

They form due to portal hypertensi­on, which commonly is a result of cirrhosis, resistance to portal blood flow, and increased portal venous blood inflow.

Variceal rupture is the most common fatal complicati­on of cirrhosis. The severity of liver disease correlates with the presence of varices and risk of

bleeding. This activity reviews the evaluation of esophageal varices and the role of the interprofe­ssional team in managing this condition.

objectives:

Explain when an evaluation for esophageal varices is warranted.

Contrast the acute and chronic management strategies for esophageal varices.

It also explain whether lifestyle changes can lead to improvemen­ts in esophageal varices.

Explore strategies to optimise care coordinati­on among interprofe­ssional team members to improve outcomes for patients affected by esophageal varices. Can it be treated?

Esophageal varices are abnormal, enlarged veins in the tube that connects the throat and stomach (esophagus). This condition occurs most often in people with serious liver diseases.

Esophageal varices develop when normal blood flow to the liver is blocked by a clot or scar tissue in the liver.

To go around the blockages, blood flows into smaller blood vessels that aren’t designed to carry large volumes of blood.

The vessels can leak blood or even rupture, causing life-threatenin­g bleeding.

*Not real names.

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