UPDATED: 7:35am – A mother has praised doctors at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva for saving her daughter from leukemia, a blood cancer.
Teru Cevulala of Lami said she took two-year-old Cathy Rainima first to a health centre.
Ms Cevulala said: “At the time, Cathy had a boil and she was having high fever. I took her to a health centre and they gave her panadol and anti-biotics and told me that within five days the boil would decrease in size.”
Mrs Cevulala said she noticed Cathy’s health deteriorating.
“I waited for five days but nothing happened. She wasn’t eating but kept on vomiting. I then took her to CWM Hospital. The doctors there said that she would be admitted because of her high fever so they took her blood but her blood clotted and she didn’t have much blood,” she said.
“After a few days when we were in the children’s ward we were advised to go into a private room where the doctor would explain everything. The doctor told me that my daughter had been diagnosed; it was confirmed that she had blood cancer.
“I couldn’t accept it at first but when they discussed all the medication and all the treatment that was going to happen to her I knew that I had to accept it because I know this will heal her,” she said.
She said the early stage of treatment was a difficult time for her daughter.
“Within the first three months she wasn’t walking , I had to teach her how to walk again. She took medication and had chemotherapy. She was later discharged and to report for weekly review,” she said.
Mrs Cevulala said she was grateful for the treatment options. They were cost effective and the family support was great, she added.
“We had asked for the doctors’ opinion about overseas treatment and they contacted the New Zealand Cancer Headquarters which said her cancer could be treated in Fiji because they could supply the medicine so I was glad,” she said.
-Fiji Sun
