A treatment plan for a cancer patient from India went wrong and it led to hair growth in the mouth. The uncomfortable situation that the middle-aged man from the southern state of Kerala is going through has been captured by the local media.
The hair growth close to the man's throat is causing discomfort to the patient. He is not able to consume food or water. Stephan is a person who climbs coconut trees to earn money. It is a job that requires strength to hold on to the tree. Today, he isn't able to gain the energy he requires to work nor is he able to find a solution for his agony.
The issue started 2 years ago
Two years ago Stephan had a small growth inside his mouth, which the doctor said could be treated easily. He was in one of the cancer treatment centres in the capital city in Kerala. The treatment plan assigned to him by the doctor was that the growth will be removed and skin from the thighs would be grafted to that region.
Upon recovering from the surgery and returning home, Stephan started experiencing discomfort. He discovered that hair was growing inside his mouth. The doctor had removed the skin from his lower chin and grafted it inside his mouth, the Malayala Manorama newspaper reported.
When Stephen presented his grievance to the doctor he was silent. The next time he went to meet the doctor he explained the issues to the doctor. The doctor asked him to trim the hair, and Stephen tried cutting the hair. But the hair was getting lodged in his throat and he accidentally swallowed the hair a couple of times. Soon, the man gave up. Stephan struggles every day, to eat and to drink and even doing anything is causing the man to be in constant discomfort.
After much deliberation, Stephen returned to the doctor. He begged for a solution but the doctor was cold enough to reply that he should appoint a barber to remove the hair. Stephen returned home without a solution to his problem.
Not just a single case from India
Another case from the same district last year showed the shocking state in which hospitals are in. Rajani the victim went to the hospital after discovering the growth on her breast the oncology department of a Medical College in Kerala. The patient underwent the diagnosis which pointed out that the growth is not malignant, yet she was administered chemotherapy following the results from a private lab in the country.
The country's cancer care facilities are said to be in need of a drastic change. The failure to acknowledge a patients' requirement constitutes 20 percent of the reason for the mortality rate in the country.
