Girl battling nerve cancer appeals for Sh400,000

What started as a simple swelling on 20-year-old Misky Salim's neck has turned out to be a life-threatening tumor.

Ms Salim is suffering from a neurofibrosarcoma, a tumour that affects nerve tissue, and a doctor at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) says she requires urgent resection and radiotherapy.

"I have undergone two surgeries, one in Busia and another at MTRH but the condition has not improved. There is a swelling again on my neck that has prompted me to go back to hospital," said Salim, who spoke to The Standard Monday.

Salim who sat her KCSE examinations last year at Burumba Secondary school said she was in sound health until sometime in 2014 when she experienced a swelling on her neck.

She said the condition has drastically affected her health. She experiences pain in her neck and back and has difficulty walking and moving her right hand.

Benjamin Magaregikenyi, a doctor at MTRH, said a team of surgeons had been managing her condition and she now requires an urgent removal of the tumor and radiotherapy.

Salim's family is from Korinda village in Busia County and now requires Sh400,000 for the procedure, which is not available at MTRH.

Salim's mother, Rehema, is appealing for help to save the life of her daughter.

Dr Magaregikenyi said Salim has a huge mass in the right side of the neck and that after the first surgery, the tumour grew again. It was resected at MTRH in early January this year.

He said the tumour is compressing the major blood vessels in her neck, exerting pressure on the right side of the lung.

Ms Rehema has no source of revenue to meet her daughter's medical bill, and she is hoping well-wishers will come to the girl's aid.

She says they have spent all they have to manage the condition.

Neurofibrosarcoma, according to medics, is a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (MPNST), also known as a malignant schwannoma. It is a form of cancer of the connective tissue surrounding nerves.