Cutting-edge cancer op keeps boy’s dream alive

Viljoen proud to be part of team to first perform this kind of surgery in province

Groundbreaking cancer treatment surgery has given a young Ngqamakhwe boy an opportunity to continue doing what he loves most – playing soccer.

Qiqa Nobanda, 13, was on Monday the first Eastern Cape childhood cancer patient to undergo a four-hour operation at East London’s Frere Hospital to remove an aggressive cancerous tumour growing between his hip and leg.

Qiqa was diagnosed with osteosarcoma – a cancerous tumour in the bone – earlier in 2018.

When he first complained of severe pain in his right leg in December, his mother wrote it off as a soccer-related injury.

Three months later, Qiqa arrived at Frere Hospital and tests revealed that it was in fact bone cancer.

Because of a quick diagnosis his leg could be saved.

Osteosarcoma is an aggressive form of cancer common in teenage boys and is sometimes misdiagnosed by parents as meaningless sports injuries.

On Monday, Steve Biko Academic Hospital tumour and sepsis unit head Dr Jaco Viljoen worked with Frere’s medical team to carry out the complex procedure.

When a reporter visited the hospital Qiqa was still heavily sedated but his mother, Thembisa, said she was happy her son would be OK.

She said Qiqa had agreed to the surgery even before she did.

“I was so scared when they explained the procedure to me, but after he agreed, he begged me to say yes.

“I am so happy and relieved that he will be able to grow normally and continue [doing] sports.

“This experience has definitely brought us closer ,” Thembisa said.

Viljoen, a former Frere orthopaedic doctor, said he was proud to have been part of the team to first perform this kind of surgery in the province.

He said the huge tumour that had been growing on Qiqa’s leg was cut out, and he would be put on chemotherapy to kill off any remaining cancer cells. Qiqa also received a hip replacement.

“Often the only treatment has been to amputate the leg because kids are brought in too late, but the good news with Qiqa was that it was picked up quite early and could still be cut out,” Viljoen said.

“From tomorrow he’ll be able to get up and walk again,” he said after the surgery.

Viljoen said five-year survival chances for child patients who underwent this procedure were 85%.

“Kids suffer massive pain from these tumours and the operation provides almost instant relief.

“If you leave this kind of tumour unattended, a child can be dead within a year’s time.” –