{"id":44045,"date":"2023-01-29T19:29:49","date_gmt":"2023-01-29T19:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile"},"modified":"2023-01-29T19:36:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-29T19:36:28","slug":"four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile","title":{"rendered":"Four operations later, stricken girl can smile"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>Four years ago, Christine Baluka developed a swelling on her upper right arm shoulder that she initially brushed aside. It will go away, she thought to herself. But when the pain became excruciating, she knew that something had gone awry.<\/p>\n

Baluka\u2019s doting parents, Mr Geofrey Tazuba, 56, and Angella Nankoma, 43, had the fourth of their 12 children walking in and out of different health facilities like Budaka Health Centre IV. They would always leave none the wiser.<\/p>\n

A medical report from the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) shows that while the tumour, described in medical parlance as a \u201chigh grade soft tissue sarcoma\u201d, was noted in October of 2019, a diagnosis was not arrived at until February of 2020.<\/p>\n

Baluka, 20, was referred to Mulago National Referral Hospital from Mbale Regional Referral Hospital on April 20, 2020. The former was not equipped to deal with her ailment.<\/p>\n

\u201cCancer specialists from Uganda Cancer Institute in Mulago Hospital tried to treat me to a point of becoming fine, but eventually the cell grew worse,\u201d Baluka told Sunday Monitor, adding, \u201cThat is when I had to be referred to Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before, Baluka\u2019s parents\u2014who lead nondescript lives in Bwase Village, Budaka Town Council in Budaka District\u2014had sold their cows and goats to clear a Shs10 million bill UCI had slapped them with. Now Aga Khan Hospital in Kenya needed 20 times that amount.<\/p>\n

A November 12, 2021, report indicated that Baluka needed \u201cneoadjuvant chemotherapy to shrink the tumour and ease definitive surgery to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The surgery would be been \u201cupon completion of 2-4 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.\u201d And, of course, payment of Shs200 million.<\/p>\n

Beating cancer is a punishingly expensive undertaking. It also helps a great deal if patients and their families showcase great mental fortitude. Baluka had more than shown this by defying the odds to write her 2020 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) at Kabuna Primary School. Weeks before she had been rooted to a bed at UCI. Baluka\u2019s parents say she performed \u201cfairly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The medical bill that Aga Khan Hospital wrote for Baluka\u2019s parents was, however, an insurmountable hurdle. Recommendation for what UCI described as \u201cfurther management\u201d had been done on July 28, 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, my parents failed to secure Shs200 million in a bid to enable me undergo the operation,\u201d Baluka recalls, adding that she badly needed a lucky break.<\/p>\n

Mr Vincent Watolya helped her get one when he organised a fundraising drive that ensured four operations were packed into 2022 at Entebbe Hospital. The last one in November left Baluka pain-free. Unassuming, Mr Watolya told Sunday Monitor that the \u201cgenerous support both in kind and cash\u201d of Baluka\u2019s friends came in handy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the praise goes to Mr Vincent Watolya, who has been at the forefront,\u201d Mr Tazuba said, adding, \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe that my daughter could return back home as a normal person.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Four years ago, Christine Baluka developed a swelling on her upper right arm shoulder that she initially brushed aside. It will go away, she thought to herself. But when the pain became excruciating, she knew that something had gone awry. Baluka\u2019s doting parents, Mr Geofrey Tazuba, 56, and Angella Nankoma, 43, had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":44044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-44045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nFour operations later, stricken girl can smile - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Four years ago, Christine Baluka developed a swelling on her upper right arm shoulder that she initially brushed aside. ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four operations later, stricken girl can smile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Four years ago, Christine Baluka developed a swelling on her upper right arm shoulder that she initially brushed aside. ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-29T19:29:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-29T19:36:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1675007999.38.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Four operations later, stricken girl can smile\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-29T19:29:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-29T19:36:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile\"},\"wordCount\":491,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1675007999.38.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/four-operations-later-stricken-girl-can-smile\",\"name\":\"Four operations later, stricken girl can smile - 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