Turkana boy, 7, with cancer appeals for help

 Stephen Lowesit is frail and sickly. He has a lump just below his left ear and was on tuberculosis treatment between February and August.  

The health of the seven-year-old class one pupil at Kanaodon Primary School in Turkana South did not improve. He is in a lot of pain and has problems swallowing food.

His mother, Alice Tukwali and a widow, took him to Lodwar Referral Hospital where Rogers Gonzalez, a Cuban doctor, found that the boy was not suffering from TB.  The earlier examination and drugs prescription were done at a medical camp organised by a team of Spanish doctors.

Gonzalez told the Star: “I did several tests to determine the suffering of the boy. Most of the tests turned negative. The boy tested negative for adenitis tuberculosis. The Spanish surgical camp didn’t test for adenitis TB; they just assumed and treated the boy without noting the suffering.” 

He directed that several tests be done to determine what the boy was suffering from.

“For the tests that I had directed, the X-ray showed there were no free fluid masses and one for peripheral blood film was normal. I recommended two other tests,” Gonzalez said.

Tukwali has been camping at LCRH without getting any attention until journalists started asking questions.

She claimed health workers demanded a lot of money (Sh10,000) for the tests to be done but she could not raise even Sh100. 

“Since my son started medication in February this year I have been trekking more than 130km from Kanaodon to Lodwar hospital to seek medication for my son only to realise much later that my son was not suffering from tuberculosis,” she said.

“I’m unable to raise the amount required for the tests. I cannot raise the money demanded. Education is the best thing I can offer to my children. My son has not been at school since February due to the pain on the neck.” the said.

Turkana County Director for Medical Services Gilchrist Lokoel was guarded on what happened at the Spanish camp.

 “Medicine profession is like a puzzle. It’s not always easy to figure out diseases. The Spanish Surgical Camp tried their best to put the boy on the treatment. unfortunately after the completion of treatment, the condition of the boy didn’t show improvement,” he told the Star in his office.

Lokoel directed two tests to be undertaken at LCRH.

“The two tests that I had ordered to be conducted at LCRH, include fine-needle aspiration and tissue biopsy. Doctors attending to the boy didn’t succeed to get blood from the lump on the neck. It's dry and they did a surgery where they obtained a biopsy and sent to Moi Teaching Referral Hospital, Eldoret for review,” he said.

A September 28 report by Dr K. Keitany, a consultant pathologist at MTRH, shows that the boy has cancer.

Tukwali is now appealing for help from the government and well-wishers for her son to be treated.

“I’m really disappointed. Since February my son was taking drugs for the wrong disease.  I don’t know where to start so that my son can be treated,” the widow said.