Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
Girl, 10, needs financial help to remove enlarged colon
10-year-old Annastacia Higgins
A year has passed since 10-year-old Annastacia Higgins has been suffering from an enlarged colon, a situation if not treated urgently at this time, could result in her untimely death.
The startling discovery her mother, Amelia Seemangal told this newspaper, was made when the child was being examined by a doctor at Cincinnati Children’s Colorectal Centre in the United States last year.
And this unfortunate development, according to Seemangal, a resident of 67 Second Street Prospect, East Bank Demerara, comes on the heels of efforts to rectify another disease from which Annastacia had suffered since she was five.
Seemangal recounted that at the tender age the girl was diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s disease and had undergone four major surgeries locally. However, it was observed after the surgeries that the child’s anal canal was not completely closed and as such she became incapable of recognising when she needed to defecate.
Annastacia’s condition would worsen in 2007 with her developing a urinary tract infection, leading doctors to advise Seemangal to seek medical assistance overseas as Guyana, up to that time, did not have specialists to undertake a corrective operation.
After garnering financial assistance from members of the public, business owners and the Ministry of Health, the woman said that she was able to take her daughter to the United States for the necessary treatment. And it was while she was undergoing a bowel management programme that it was detected that Annastacia had developed an enlarged colon which according to doctors at the Cincinnati facility, can only be corrected by having surgery.
However, the lack of finances to complete the crucial procedure saw doctors advising Seemangal how to care for her daughter until they are able to operate on her.
The doctors are hopeful that they could operate on the girl this month due to the dire nature of her condition. The visibly shaken woman said that one doctor had even expressed surprise that her daughter was even still alive because of the size of the colon at the time of his investigation.
Seemangal said that based on the doctors’ advice, Annastacia has been placed on an exclusively high fibre diet and is obligated to take laxatives on a regular basis.
An estimate from the Cincinnati facility placed the cost of the operation in the vicinity of US$69,290. However, with the additional cost for travelling and accommodation, Seemangal disclosed that the entire venture is likely to amount to about US75, 000.
So far, she has been assured of US$5,000 assistance from the Ministry of Health and has been afforded the sum of $147,260 through public offerings.
Those desirous of rendering assistance towards Annastacia’s crucial operation could do so by contacting Amelia Seemangal on telephone numbers 265-3924 or 627-6859 or make financial contributions to GBTI account number S1AI 044142 as soon as possible.
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