Cure 250 Children with Burkitt Lymphoma in Africa

Arim is a boy who lives in a village called Omara in the Lira District in northern Uganda.  He was originally diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma in 2009 when he was 6 years old.  He was treated with 6 cycles of chemotherapy at our hospital and he greatly improved.  After the end of treatment, he had no evidence of disease and was then able to resume the life of normal 6 year old boy.  He completed his 4^th year of primary school.   Before Arim became sick, he lost two siblings shortly after they were born, due to infections and his father died several years ago, leaving his mother alone to care for him.  Because Arim’s mother has only limited education, she is only able to support Arim and herself through manual labor. 

Although Arim did well, in June 2013, he unfortunately started to complain of abdominal pain.  Very soon, his abdomen became grossly swollen and he had severe difficulty in breathing.  He had little energy and felt very weak and eventually became unable to walk and could barely move due to his shortness of breath.  Tests were done and confirmed that his Burkitt lymphoma had come back. 

Arim started therapy again and his mother was so pleased that he had greatly improved after one cycle of treatment.  Although he is still on treatment, he is doing so well that he has managed to spend a few days at home with his friends and relatives between cycles of therapy.  He is greatly looking forward to the time when he can return to school. 

Our staff at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor is grateful to the many donors who have contributed to the INCTR project – making treatment possible for a child like Arim and giving him the chance to live the life of a normal boy.