Successful pupil cancer surgeries at LGH

LAHORE : Long treatment and successful surgeries at Lahore General Hospital have brought out two sisters at their toddling age suffering from congenital retinoblastoma from the world of darkness and now these two sisters can see completely with their own eyes.

The operations have been conducted by Head of the Department of Ophthalmology, LGH, Prof Dr M Moin and Assistant Professor Dr Lubna Siddique Mian.

Principal Post Graduate Medical Institute Prof Dr Al-freed Zafar has congratulated Prof Moin and his team on successful operations of highly sensitive nature and appreciated their professionalism.

In private sector, surgery for cancer patients costs around Rs2 million, which is provided free of cost at LGH under the current government's policy, he said.

He hoped that the doctors of PGMI/AMC/LGH would continue to devote their full energies to provide high quality facilities to the patients in future.

On the occasion, Ahsan, a driver from Khushab, prayed to the doctors, nurses and paramedical staff of LGH for restoring the light in his daughters' eyes and thanked Almighty Allah and said, “My daughters would now be able to see the lights of the world,”

Their parents said that when they went to several hospitals for eye examination of the girls, the doctors said that the eyes would have to be removed otherwise the cancer could spread in the body which would also kill the girls.

Prof M Moin said that Ayesha who is now 3 years old was brought to the General Hospital at the age of 4 months and underwent a complete diagnostic and medical examination. The girl was admitted to the hospital and well treated for one year, he added. He said that apart from laser eye surgery, chemotherapy was also given to the girl and after a successful operation, the girl was saved from being blind. The doctor said other sister Abrish Ahsan was 3 months old, so the parents showed great responsibility and awareness in view of the fear that even the younger sister would not suffer from eye disease like the elder one. They found out that she also has cancer of both eyes and of the retina, so her younger sister was also treated and operated on to save her eyes and enlighten her world.

Prof M Moin said pupil cancer is a hereditary disease and it can affect the brain as well as vision. He said that if symptoms of this disease appear, consult an ophthalmologist immediately. He said that the treatment of retinal cancer is long and complicated and to control the disease one has to undergo long term examination as the tumor is one of the most common. It can recur after the onset of the disease, so timely diagnosis and successful treatment of this disease is the only solution, he said.