Leg fracture led to cancer and death within three months

How a simple fracture on Randy Mutua's leg turned to be osteogenic sarcoma, cancer of the bone, is a puzzle that his father Antony Siku is yet to understand.

The nine-year-old was supposed to be in class today with his peers, but he is not. He died on March 9, 2019 barely three months after being diagnosed with cancer.

Antony says Randy (pictured) who was to celebrate his tenth birthday in June, was of perfect health. He was fond of skating and playing football.

On July 27, 2018 Randy is said to have hurt himself while playing with a friend. He was tackled hard and could not walk.

“I took him to a hospital in Umoja where he was given some painkillers and an ointment to apply and we went back home,” said Antony.

But a week later, Randy complained of persistent pain. The injured leg, however, had no signs of being swollen. An X-ray was done at another facility in Fedha which showed he had a fracture in his left fibia.

“The hospital recommended a full cast on leg and we went to Mama Lucy where the casting was done,” said Antony.

When schools re-opened in September, Randy had to use crutches to go to school since his leg was not yet healed.

“That September we went back to hospital (Mama Lucy) and we were told the fracture was not healed. In October we did the same, but still the fracture was not healing,” narrates Antony.

Since the cast was getting loose, the hospital recommended in November to have it removed and replace it with a half cast.

After about three weeks, Randy’s toes began to swell and he was taken back to hospital.

“They found the whole foot swollen. They told us he will be okay, prescribed painkillers and antibiotics and we were released,” recalls Antony.

However, before Antony bought the drugs, he decided to seek another opinion which took him to Metropolitan Hospital in Buruburu where he saw an orthopaedic, bone specialist.

“He looked at the X-rays and asked if Randy had complained of any pains before the injury. He said what he was suspecting could only be confirmed after an MRI. It looked like a tumor.

The MRI was done at Mater on December 10, 2018 and results out two days later.

From the MRI, a biopsy was recommended again for certainty which was done in January 3 at Kikuyu hospital.

Due to the fear of what was waiting them, samples were taken to two different laboratories. A CT scan had also shown that whatever was ailing Randy had already spread to the lungs.

A week later, the laboratory results came and it was confirmed that Randy had osteogenic sarcoma.

The family was thrown into the rush to put the young boy on treatment which started with ten sessions of radiotherapy done at Nairobi Hospital.

It was at the hospital that the family learnt of how easy their son would have been diagnosed on time, only if the first hospital that interpreted the X-ray would refer him to the right specialist.

“When we took the same X-ray to Nairobi Hospital, the radiologist just took one look at it and he could tell what was wrong yet this is the same X-ray used to put a cast on his leg. May be if this was discovered on time something would have been done,” said Caroline Siku, Randy’s mother.

Dr Catherine Nyongesa, an oncologist, noted that the major challenge with getting treatment on time for cancer is the inability of some physicians to point out the disease from a patient’s first visit to the hospital.

“Many cancer signs mimic symptoms of other diseases or conditions so it’s easy to brush them aside. That is why they take too long,” said Dr Nyongesa.

On March 7, a Thursday, while at home in Donholm waiting for the second chemo cycle, he started developing mouth sores that made it difficult to eat, one of the side effects of chemo.

On Saturday, he woke up and complained that he was not able to pass urine the whole night. Antony prepared him quick, put him on the backseat ready to rush him to hospital.

“When we were ready to leave, I asked him if he is okay, he said: I don’t know and those were his last words,” recalls Antony.

He could not be resuscitated when they reached the hospital. Randy died, just three months after diagnosis.