Daily Nation: - Lifestyle |A tune of cheer after two dismal cases Page 1 of 3

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The lounge has become a very convivial place for discussions. Emerging new force in the world
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By YUSUF K. DAWOOD 20the%20world%20/-/1056/959742/-/15aqasy/-
Posted Saturday, July 17 2010 at 20:00 /index.html>

Recently, on my visit to the doctors’ lounge in the hospital where I work, I ran into my gynaecological KWAMCHETSI: Bring back Hellon, Arunga and their
colleague, Prof Wainaina. It is a newly opened amenity and doctors accredited to the hospital hold it in crowd <URL: /oped/Opinion/Bring%20back%
20Hellon%20Arunga%20and%20the%20entire%
great affection. 20Finger%20of%20God%20crowd%20/-
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RELATED STORIES The lounge has become a convivial place and the subjects discussed
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<URL: /magazines/lifestyle/A% That day the topic was cancer of the oesophagus. I had just come from
20strange%20honour% the nearby medical school where I teach, having participated in a
20amongst%20thieves/- symposium on cancer of that organ.
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“Depressing subject,” I remarked as I entered the lounge. “The outlook
is poor in this terrible disease, perhaps because the main symptom,
which is just a little difficulty in swallowing, is often ignored by the patient.”

I then related my experience with my father. I was a first-year medical student when my dad complained
of food sticking in his gullet. He went to his doctor, who gave him antacid tablets, which did not help.

I therefore took him to a specialist in my teaching hospital, a Dr Ranbhise, my teacher and a brilliant
physician. He diagnosed my father as a case of cancer oesophagus and handed him to the chest surgeon.
Prof Wainaina and I poured ourselves some coffee and sat on the settee.

“Dr Jones did a bronchoscopy and oesophagoscopy on my father.” Digressing a little, I had a dig at Prof
Wainaina.
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“You gynaecologists only know the speculum, used constantly to inspect the most important cavity in a
woman’s body. For your information, bronchoscopes and oesphagoscopes are instruments to examine
the windpipe and the food-pipe respectively.” NTV Kenya <URL: javascript:void(0);>

As the professor laughed, I continued: “They found that the cancer was burrowing into the windpipe and
surgery was out of the question.”

Just then, Dr Odera, the heart specialist, entered the lounge. As he poured his coffee, I could see that he,
too, was interested in my story.

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Daily Nation: - Lifestyle |A tune of cheer after two dismal cases Page 2 of 3

“There were no special tubes to insert into the blocked food-pipe as there are now, to let the food and
drink go through. So Dr Jones made a hole in my father’s stomach through which I fed him when the
cancer completely blocked his food passage.”

Reminiscing on those sad days in the life of a callow medical student, I sighed. “It was heartbreaking to
see my dad not being able to swallow a drop of water, if only to moisten his parched mouth. It was,
therefore, a relief when the end came and he finally succumbed to this terrible disease.”

As we sipped our coffee in silence, gravely sobered by the vicissitudes of my father’s last days, Dr
Odera asked: “Did your dad smoke?”

“Yes,” I replied, “he smoked Indian cigarettes, popularly known as bidis, where the tobacco is wrapped
in tobacco leaf instead of paper as in a cigarette.” <URL: javascript:void(0);> <URL:
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“I am asking,” explained the cardiologist, “because we still don’t know all the causes of this terrible
disease. Since it is very common around Lake Victoria, we initially thought it may have something to do
with smoked fish that people eat there. Then there was a theory that since people live in thatched houses
and light a fire inside the hut to keep themselves warm during the cold weather, they inhale a large javascript:void(0);>
amount of smoke which is a chemical irritant and carcinogenic.”

“Yes,” I said. “We had an eminent physician in this town who was fond of smoking a pipe, drinking a
lot of whisky and eating hot curries – not realising that all three were serious predisposing factors. Poor
chap died of cancer of his oesophagus.”

“You have narrated two dismal cases of the disease. Let me cheer you up now by relating the case of my
brother, who is still alive 20 years after being diagnosed and treated for cancer oesophagus,” Prof
Wainaina said.

“One fine morning, I had a phone call from my brother, who lives at our rural home to say he was
feeling as if his food was sticking at the bottom of his gullet,” the professor said.

“Come quickly to Nairobi,” I told him. “I arranged an X-ray of his oesophagus and it showed classical
picture of cancer like shouldering and rat tail appearance, all typical of the disease as I recalled from my
undergraduate days. I took him to the specialist who put an oesophagoscope in his gullet to see the
growth and take a biopsy. To my great surprise, the biopsy result was negative. You won’t believe it, but <URL: /external/471442?url=http%253A%252F%
252Fwww.hassconsult.co.ke>
I told the specialist. “My brother has the right symptoms and typical X-ray appearance of cancer
oesophagus. How come the biopsy is negative? Please repeat it.”

“The specialist repeated the biopsy and I was proved right. There was early cancer lurking in a corner
missed by the first biopsy.”
He continued: “I admitted him straight away and requested our chest surgeon to operate upon him mara
moja. He removed the oesophagus and today, 20 years later, my brother is alive and paying for his
children’s education.”

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The lounge has become a very convivial place for discussions. Emerging new force in the world
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By YUSUF K. DAWOOD 20the%20world%20/-/1056/959742/-/15aqasy/-
Posted Saturday, July 17 2010 at 20:00 /index.html>

“God must have really wanted it that way, because my car rolled over when I was bringing my brother to KWAMCHETSI: Bring back Hellon, Arunga and their
this hospital for admission. The car was a write-off but we both came out unscathed.” crowd <URL: /oped/Opinion/Bring%20back%
20Hellon%20Arunga%20and%20the%20entire%
20Finger%20of%20God%20crowd%20/-
RELATED STORIES The last word came from Dr Odera: “Thank God you only had to
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A strange honour amongst Six killed in dawn smash-up <URL: /News/Six%
thieves would also have to inherit his wife as well!”
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