Childhood cancer is no death sentence

A WARM welcome to the Cancer Brief, a column brought to you by Zimpapers (1980) Ltd in conjunction with Island Hospice

is is in recognition of the fact that cancer has become a cause for concern not just in Zimbabwe but across the world. Cancer deaths are fast rising - leading many people to watch what they eat and adopt healthier lifestyles as they try to prevent not just cancer but other non-communicable diseases - which have to do with lifestyle patterns.

It is our hope as Zimpapers that through this column readers will be educated, questions will be asked, experienced shared and

THIS article examines the experiences of some disabled women who participated in recent research undertaken in Harare.

THERE is strong evidence that women who acquire disability during the course of their marriages suffer economic abuse from their non-disabled husbands, who regard disabled women as unfit to receive spousal support.

For example, Chipowho has a physical disability which was caused by a spinal cord injury says: “For the 20 years that I had been married to him before my disability came, he used to surrender his whole salary to me so that I could use the money to run the home, but when I got disabled and I started using a wheelchair he stopped ... even up to now my husband does not give me a single cent . . . I just try to sell this and that in order to survive.”

In another example, Mara - who also uses a wheelchair - says: “When I got spinal cord injury, my husband stopped to buy food for me and our children. I use gloves for hygiene. I need a new catheter every two weeks, but urine bag I need a new one every two days. So now imagine my husband does not give me any money. At times I get help from the church . . . I get sick because I can’t have money to buy the right things to use.”

Studies carried out in the West indicate some disabilities may result in additional disabilities occurring on the same person or other health-related stories of hope amplified. We hope through this column policy-makers will be lobbied while service providers will also be spoken to.

Because September was Children’s Cancer Awareness Month, the first piece on the Cancer Brief will focus on childhood cancers.

Island Hospice interviewed specialist consultant haematologist, Dr Tendai Chris Maboreke, MB, BS (Ibadan), MRCP (UK), DipRCPath (UK), FRCPath (UK), MBA (UK) from Lancet Laboratories and below is the full interview.

Q: What are the early signs and symp- toms of childhood cancer?

A: The early signs and symptoms of childhood cancer depends on the part of the body the cancer is located. But sometimes symptoms are non-specific, not indicative of the organ affected. Maybe I should just group the cancers into two: solid tumours where is there is a lump and the second group is the blood cancers and these present differently. Q: For solid cancers, is there is a specific

set of signs and symptoms? A: For solid cancers I can give an example for the most common one being Wilms Tumour, tumour of the kidney, which usually presents with a lump in the tummy which the mother or parent can feel when washing the baby or a distended belly type of swelling. For all the solid tumours the lump can be anywhere in the body, any lump anywhere on the body should be suspected to be cancer. The second most common cancer in children is Kaposi Sarcoma, presenting as multiple lumps on the skin, resulting in skin changes. Another common cancer is retinoblastoma, that is cancer or tumour affecting the eye, usually starting off as a white spot in the eye, progression of this cancer can lead to visual impairment, at advanced stages the eye protrudes as the cancer causes swelling and the eye is pushed out. Lymphomas which are the fourth most common type of cancers in children and usually present with lumps in the neck, armpits and groin sometimes in the liver and spleen which can lead to an enlarged tummy. Then another type is the brain tumour, the symptoms referable to the head, headaches, sometimes vomiting, personality changes, occasional fits that may point to the cancer in the brain. Q: So if a child is not able to articulate

themselves, how easy is it to note a

change in personality?

A: Well, you note that there will be other manifestations in younger children, the head may actually grow bigger because of the head of a younger child is still more pliable, a growing tumour will be noticeable. In brain cancers the child may not develop normally, the milestones may not occur at the time you expect them to such as delayed walking, delaying sitting and all sorts of things. Then for the blood cancers, the leukaemia, they usually present with signs and symptoms of infection which doesn’t go

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