http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,175911,00.html?
They give cancer boy up for dead until he meets S'pore doctor
Batam boy endures 2 years' worth of journeys seeking treatment
By Ng Wan Ching
September 08, 2008
TNP PICTURES: JOHN HENG
LITTLE Willy Chang and his dad Johnny travelled 2,460km throughout the region seeking hope - and sank deeper into despair time and again in their two-year journey.
What began as a swell on the testicles of the then 4-year-old boy turned into a desperate race against time and a frightening fight for life, as a tumour ate away at his tiny body and grew so big that it spilled out of his tummy.
Doctor after doctor in Indonesia and Malaysia drew the same conclusion: There was no hope for the Indonesian boy. He would live, at most, for another six months.
Finally, they came to Singapore.
That Willy is alive and well today - he will be 12 years old in November - is in stark contrast to what he was when he came to Singapore as a 5-year-old.
Testicular cancer had eaten away at his insides so badly that he weighed only 13kg, of which 3kg was the weight of the tumour sticking out of his abdomen.
He was too weak to walk, stand or sit. His father said in Teochew: 'His tumour was huge, like a cauliflower bursting through his abdomen.'
Dr Ang Peng Tiam, a consultant oncologist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre who saw Willy at that time, said: 'This little boy came in, carried by his father and sucking on his pacifier.'
Willy's huge tumour was covered by pieces of cloth and the tumour was badly infected.
Dr Ang said: 'It smelled very bad and the body fluids and blood were just oozing into the cloths.
'Our hearts went out to him.'
Willy is Mr Chang's only son. His parents first noticed a swelling in his testicles in 2001.
Doctors in their hometown of Batam diagnosed a hernia. Nothing to worry about, they said.
Mr Chang, 37, who sells homemade kuehs for a living, said that the hernia did not go away. After a year, Willy's abdomen was more swollen than before, and the swelling in his testicles did not go down.
Mr Chang sought a second opinion, then a third and a fourth.
All the doctors told him the same thing: Your son needs to go under the knife. In early 2002, he took Willy to Singapore to consult a doctor at KK Women's and Children's Hospital.
Mr Chang said: 'The doctor said Willy needed a minor operation. It would cost $5,000 to $6,000.'
It was too expensive.
So he returned to Batam, Indonesia and Willy had the operation done there. What the doctors removed was sent to a lab for testing. Then the shock: 'I was told that Willy had a cancerous tumour - and it was late-stage cancer,' Mr Chang said. Desperate, he went to consult doctors again.
They all told him the same thing - that Willy had only six months to live.
By then, money had run out. And the tumour was eating its way throughout his son's abdomen.
Mr Chang gave up. It seemed hopeless.
Willy's tumour burst through his abdomen and continued to grow. Mr Chang recalled: 'The skin had sloughed off and it was bleeding.'
Willy lost weight, going from 30kg to 13kg.
'The size of his leg became like that of a newborn,' Mr Chang said. 'My heart was breaking. He practically stopped eating. We were waiting for death.'
Singapore was a last resort for the father.
A friend had advised him to go to Singapore to seek treatment again. 'My friend said there was this doctor in Singapore who could help us. His name was Ang Peng Tiam,' Mr Chang said.
Mr Chang told his friend he did not even have money to buy the ferry tickets to Singapore. His friend gave him $200 for that.
Willy was a sorry sight when his father carried him into Dr Ang's clinic in 2002.
Despite the painful-looking appearances, however, Willy had one thing going for him. Dr Ang said: 'He had a very curable cancer. If you had to choose a cancer to have, this would be the best type, germ-cell cancer.'
He told Mr Chang that he was 90 per cent confident of curing Willy.
Mr Chang said: 'I was stunned! All the doctors we had seen earlier had given Willy six months to live. Here he was giving a 90 per cent chance of success. I told him, even if you had said 50 per cent, I would go for it.
'He gave me hope.'
Donated generously
So Mr Chang went home to try and raise money. Through word of mouth, people donated generously. Within a month, he had received enough money for his son's treatment.
Willy went through six chemotherapy cycles.
In a matter of months, the cancerous tumour literally fell off in chunks, and the resulting hole in the abdomen healed itself.
By August 2002, Willy was cancer-free.
Today, Willy has grown into a strapping, healthy boy and all that is left of the ordeal is a 20cm healed scar along his lower abdomen.
Willy, who lives in Batam with his parents and younger sister, has returned to school and is among the top five students in his class.
He also enjoys playing sports.
Mr Chang said: 'This is nothing less than a miracle for us. We thought we were going to lose our boy.'
Willy said: 'It was a wonderful feeling to keep getting better and better. I hope to become a doctor next time like Dr Ang.'
They give cancer boy up for dead until he meets S'pore doctor
Batam boy endures 2 years' worth of journeys seeking treatment
By Ng Wan Ching
September 08, 2008
TNP PICTURES: JOHN HENG
LITTLE Willy Chang and his dad Johnny travelled 2,460km throughout the region seeking hope - and sank deeper into despair time and again in their two-year journey.
What began as a swell on the testicles of the then 4-year-old boy turned into a desperate race against time and a frightening fight for life, as a tumour ate away at his tiny body and grew so big that it spilled out of his tummy.
Doctor after doctor in Indonesia and Malaysia drew the same conclusion: There was no hope for the Indonesian boy. He would live, at most, for another six months.
Finally, they came to Singapore.
That Willy is alive and well today - he will be 12 years old in November - is in stark contrast to what he was when he came to Singapore as a 5-year-old.
Testicular cancer had eaten away at his insides so badly that he weighed only 13kg, of which 3kg was the weight of the tumour sticking out of his abdomen.
He was too weak to walk, stand or sit. His father said in Teochew: 'His tumour was huge, like a cauliflower bursting through his abdomen.'
Dr Ang Peng Tiam, a consultant oncologist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre who saw Willy at that time, said: 'This little boy came in, carried by his father and sucking on his pacifier.'
Willy's huge tumour was covered by pieces of cloth and the tumour was badly infected.
Dr Ang said: 'It smelled very bad and the body fluids and blood were just oozing into the cloths.
'Our hearts went out to him.'
Willy is Mr Chang's only son. His parents first noticed a swelling in his testicles in 2001.
Doctors in their hometown of Batam diagnosed a hernia. Nothing to worry about, they said.
Mr Chang, 37, who sells homemade kuehs for a living, said that the hernia did not go away. After a year, Willy's abdomen was more swollen than before, and the swelling in his testicles did not go down.
Mr Chang sought a second opinion, then a third and a fourth.
All the doctors told him the same thing: Your son needs to go under the knife. In early 2002, he took Willy to Singapore to consult a doctor at KK Women's and Children's Hospital.
Mr Chang said: 'The doctor said Willy needed a minor operation. It would cost $5,000 to $6,000.'
It was too expensive.
So he returned to Batam, Indonesia and Willy had the operation done there. What the doctors removed was sent to a lab for testing. Then the shock: 'I was told that Willy had a cancerous tumour - and it was late-stage cancer,' Mr Chang said. Desperate, he went to consult doctors again.
They all told him the same thing - that Willy had only six months to live.
By then, money had run out. And the tumour was eating its way throughout his son's abdomen.
Mr Chang gave up. It seemed hopeless.
Willy's tumour burst through his abdomen and continued to grow. Mr Chang recalled: 'The skin had sloughed off and it was bleeding.'
Willy lost weight, going from 30kg to 13kg.
'The size of his leg became like that of a newborn,' Mr Chang said. 'My heart was breaking. He practically stopped eating. We were waiting for death.'
Singapore was a last resort for the father.
A friend had advised him to go to Singapore to seek treatment again. 'My friend said there was this doctor in Singapore who could help us. His name was Ang Peng Tiam,' Mr Chang said.
Mr Chang told his friend he did not even have money to buy the ferry tickets to Singapore. His friend gave him $200 for that.
Willy was a sorry sight when his father carried him into Dr Ang's clinic in 2002.
Despite the painful-looking appearances, however, Willy had one thing going for him. Dr Ang said: 'He had a very curable cancer. If you had to choose a cancer to have, this would be the best type, germ-cell cancer.'
He told Mr Chang that he was 90 per cent confident of curing Willy.
Mr Chang said: 'I was stunned! All the doctors we had seen earlier had given Willy six months to live. Here he was giving a 90 per cent chance of success. I told him, even if you had said 50 per cent, I would go for it.
'He gave me hope.'
Donated generously
So Mr Chang went home to try and raise money. Through word of mouth, people donated generously. Within a month, he had received enough money for his son's treatment.
Willy went through six chemotherapy cycles.
In a matter of months, the cancerous tumour literally fell off in chunks, and the resulting hole in the abdomen healed itself.
By August 2002, Willy was cancer-free.
Today, Willy has grown into a strapping, healthy boy and all that is left of the ordeal is a 20cm healed scar along his lower abdomen.
Willy, who lives in Batam with his parents and younger sister, has returned to school and is among the top five students in his class.
He also enjoys playing sports.
Mr Chang said: 'This is nothing less than a miracle for us. We thought we were going to lose our boy.'
Willy said: 'It was a wonderful feeling to keep getting better and better. I hope to become a doctor next time like Dr Ang.'
