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June 11, 2018, Delhi: At the age of one month Nepalese baby girl Sampada, was diagnosed with Bilateral Retinoblastoma – loss of vision due to abnormal growth in retina. Both the mother and father of the child are blind. She inherited this disease from her mother, who herself was a survivor of this eye cancer – a form of Retinoblastoma, but unfortunately lost her vision to the disease. Her father, Anil was blind since birth. Since the mother was aware about the disease, she immediately sought treatment for her child’s condition. Sampada was taken to local doctors at their hometown Pokhara. The doctors realised the severity of the condition and referred the child to New Delhi for treatment, where they assured the parents that the baby will receive successful treatment.
But for the parents, the cost of treatment and visit to an unknown location was not an easy decision to make. Though every factor was against them, the parents decided to take the risk for the welfare of their only daughter.
The grandparents of Sampada, both maternal and paternal, played a critical role in supporting this decision and accompanied their children to every trip from Pokhara to Delhi. Not an easy feat, when undertaken by bus after every few weeks for continuous treatment.
Sampada was four months-old when she was admitted at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi under the care of Dr Amita Mahajan, Senior Consultant, Paediatric Oncology and Haematology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi for chemotherapy.
Elaborating upon the course of treatment for Sampada, Dr Mahajan said, “Cancer is a pervasive disease, which can occur at any part of the body. Retinoblastoma is a type of eye cancer, which affects the retina of the eye. Retina is the most sensitive lining of the eye having photosensitive cells. Retina receives the light and sends the signal to the brain via optic nerve, where they are interpreted as images. Cancer of retina, Retinoblastoma, is a rare type of cancer which is the commonest type of cancer affecting the eyes of children. It rarely occurs in adults. In rare cases, paediatric retinoblastoma can be fatal, though the success rate of treatment is 90%.”
Sampada’s mother is a well educated lady with Bachelors in Education. She decided to forgo her masters in favour of her daughter’s treatment.
Speaking on the case of Sampada, the doctor highlighted, “The total income of the family was Rs 5000 per month. It was a brave decision on their part to seek treatment for their daughter despite so many hurdles in their way. After hearing the whole story, we registered Sampada’s family with a non-profit organisation and after the discussion with an advisory body, we started providing to-and-fro travel conveyance to the family.”
Due to the strong will and determination of the family, Sampada successfully underwent treatment for retinoblastoma. Though she is fully cured now, she still visits the hospital on regular basis for check-ups. This little girl is now close to one year of age and ready to face a beautiful life filled with colours and happiness.
