syazwan story : light at the end of the tunnel

(extracted from http://medicalmoments.blogspot.com)

Prior to this, I have mentioned that he is supposed to go for external beam radiation with a specific technique at Hospital Kuala Lumpur after the supposed option to go abroad for plate branchtherapy didn't work out. He hasn't..

His parents were very worried and reluctant because the procedure will not only blast the tumor cells but also blast the normal tissue and cheekbones and it causes the bones to shrink. They don't want the same thing happened to Syazwan's eldest sister ( who is also have retinoblastoma and has lost both eyes already) .

So, we look for alternatives treatment locally. Lucky for us, a private medical centre in PJ, Wijaya Baru Medical Centre has a new technology called Cyberknife and we had arranged for him to go for MRI at the centre the other day despite scepticism of the doctors at HKL on the effectiveness of Cyberknife. You can google "Cyberknife" for more info. Anyhow what is more important is whether it can be use to help Syazwan( By the way this treatment is not recognised by Ministry of Health - that's also another another story).

Alhamdulillah, MRI came out yesterday and it seems the tumor is shrinking. and two options is proposed by the doctors at Wijaya Baru Medical Centre.

1. Cyberknife - technically doable but practically very difficult because it involves GA (general anesthetics). It means they have to paralysed Syazwan completely including the eyeballs to ensure that the blast is correctly targetted. It is going to be like a major surgery. Cost wise quite expensive (up to RM80K) as they have to source out the GA. however they just need 3-4 days to do it.

2. Linear acceleration 3D conformal - practical solution as it only involves sedation with same effectiveness as Cyberknife. Not as precise as Cyberknife but still better than the previous external beam radiation to be done at HKL because it is 3D rather than 2D at HKL and due to that fact; they can avoid blasting the cheekbone and only focus on the eye area. However the treatment is for 8 weeks, 3 days alternate per week with 25 times radiation.cost wise quite OK and with the funds raised so far we can cover the cost (around RM20K).

With all the three options available locally for Syazwan, it is now up to family to decide which the best option for him. From my conversation with them - they are now more positive and seemed keen for 2nd options as they are quite worried on the risk of GA procedure.

But I must tell you that the radiations we are discussing at the moment won't ensure that the tumor will go away. if it doesn't shrink or comes back again the next best option would be to remove the eye.

So please keep praying for Syazwan.