LOVE 4 LEE

It was a day in our family life that we would rather try to forget. Just when we thought 2020 could not get any worse, the 7th of December turned up. A few days earlier, Leeanne our youngest daughter (17) had broken out into a strange rash and over the last while had complained of tiredness and had said for a while that a gland in her neck didn't feel right. 

 

Luckily my wife took her to our local general practitioner Dr Alice Powell who immediately sent her off for tests. The results were inconclusive but suspicious enough to suspect cancer. The dreaded call came in from Dr Powell who wanted to see the family immediately. Looking back that day felt surreal. To make matters worse, I am self-employed and due to difficult times a short while prior, we had to cancel medical insurance. Food on the table, water and light, rates and taxes, schooling seemed more important. Never did I for one minute conceive that one of our children would fall desperately ill.

 

In South Africa, we do have state-funded medical facilities for any citizen without private medical insurance, and luckily in the Western Cape where we live, the facilities are much better than elsewhere in the country.

 

I said to Dr Powell, as a ballpark figure, how much would treatment cost should it be cancer you think it is? She paused and said three hundred and fifty to four hundred thousand rands ( Approx $27 000) in private care. In a state hospital, it would be more affordable as costs would be based on one's income and affordability.

 

Another very good friend of the family, Dr Roy Leaver, a retired paediatrician came alongside our family to help advise and steer us through this dilemma. Dr Powell and Dr Leaver wasted no time in getting things moving. We needed to get an accurate, conclusive diagnosis and were turned away from Groote Schuur the largest state-owned academic hospital because of the COVID infections. We were then referred to Victoria Hospital, after six hours of waiting, we finally got to see a physician, and were told to come back the next week for CT scans. On the morning of our appointment, COVID had also become high risk at Victoria hospital and I just could not take Leeanne there knowing see could contract COVID on top of cancer.

 

That morning I was in a dark hole and thought that as a family we were facing this storm on our own. The night before I received a call from Rayne, Leeanne's boyfriend's mother, who said that Qiyam would like to start a crowdfunding campaign but needed my permission. At first, I thought nothing of it, and in fact, did not want to publically declare that I could not afford health care for my family, but after much thought, I put my pride in my pocket and agreed. In desperation, I also called on a few close friends to ask for donations to allow us to at least get the CAT scans and the operation for a tissue biopsy done at Constantiaberg private hospital where the risk of COVID was much lower.

 

Incredibly, within a day sufficient donations had come in and were able to get started, the plan was to do all the necessary pre-treatment analysis at Constantiaberg and then approach the Oncologogly unit at Groote Schuur for assistance thereafter. Even the surgeon, Dr Hampton discounted his rates to help us make this happen.

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Leeanne was admitted to Constiaberg for the scans and the operation and a few days later it was confirmed that she had Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a blood cancer that attacks the immune system of the body.

 

Donations continued to come in unabatedly. 

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We could only get an appointment at Groote Schuur after Christmas, so we decided to consult with Dr du Toit the resident Hematologist at Constantiaberg on his advice for treatment. The severity of the condition hit home as he said the cancer was at stage three. He said that although the state facility was outstanding the start of treatment would be delayed to mid-January or maybe even later. He also said that she would need a port placed into her chest that would allow the medicine to directed directly into her heart. He checked with the surgeon Dr Hampton who had carried out the original procedure and space had become available in theatre for the next day and Dr Hampton agreed to do the procedure, again at a discounted rate to assist us.

 

At this point, due to the unbelievable generosity of friends and public, we had sufficient funds to go ahead with a bone marrow biopsy the operation and her first treatment of twelve chemo sessions spread over six months.

 

What a day at the hospital starting at six in the morning and getting home at nine at night. Lee was so brave and we just knew we had taken the right decision.

 

Leeanne's journey to full recovery has now begun. She is back at home for Christmas and will be resuming treatment on the 7th of January 2021. On behalf of my family, and Qiyam, we cannot express my gratitude enough to every single person who has helped us this far, financially, from the $1 donation to generous blessings we have received, empathy, encouragement and kind words and most importantly prayer.

 

We are overwhelmed with emotion and eternally grateful. God bless you all!!! 

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Martin Osner