The Saga of Moudalide

Moudalide is an 18 year old man that I (Dave) met one year ago during our last time at Galmi. He had a one month history of a growing mass in his left inguinal/groin area that had reached the size of a tennis ball. A biopsy was done by the surgeons in October 2018 and he was told to return in a couple months for the result - surgical specimens are hand carried back to the United States where they are processed and analyzed by pathologist in either Kalamazoo or Ann Arbor.

When Moudalide returned, the results could not be found so another biopsy was done. This later came back showing an "intermediate grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma", a cancer of the lymphatic system. This is one of the few cancers for which treatment is  possible here. I discussed the protocol (roadmap of treatment) with one of the family physicians who is serving here for 2 years through Samaritan's Purse. He diligently carried out the treatment program which involves 4 drugs whose acronym is CHOP - this regimen was used in the United States from the mid-1970s until around 20 years ago when it was augmented by adding an expensive monoclonal drug called Rituxan - far too expensive to be used here. Anyways, treatment finally started in May of this year and Moudalide and his father came at 3 week intervals for the  recommended 6-8 cycles. I was able to administer the 6th and 7th cycles during the past month and we will stop since there is no evidence of persistent disease.

The statistics for CHOP are that about two-thirds of patients go into remission and about half of those may  be cured so..... we are definitely hopeful that Moudalide may be cured.

We thank God for the treatments that we DO have available here and for patients who are able to understand and followup as requested! Also, it is a blessing that our cancer patients only pay a small portion of the costs associated with  their treatment since benefactors in Australia have generously underwritten these costs.