When I first met Esau he was not smiling. Actually he was screaming his head off, to be exact. See, Esau started developing a bump on his right eye that made his eye bulge out and within a couple of weeks he lost his vision. His mother and father was killed in the war, his older brother Matthew (age 22) has been raising Esau since he was little. Matthew and Esau live in Bong town which is about 4 hours away by car.
Esau had his eye taken out because it was no longer viable. Dr. Tom also took a biopsy of the tumor and Esau was diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma. There are 2 types of this lymphoma, endemic and sporadic.
Sporadic Burkitt’s Lymphoma is found in Europe and North America and is very hard to cure. Endemic Burkitt’s Lymphoma is what we see frequently here in equatorial Africa and is what was causing Esau’s right eye to bulge and his left eye to join in the swelling. Last Saturday I gave Esau his first Chemo. My first thought was, “umm since when are we a Oncology Hospital?”. But the reality is Esau was still bleeding and was not ready to transfer to St. Josephs Hospital, the place where we send our patients for chemo for Burkitt’s. Esau really needed to get that first dose so Dr. Wolfgang and I gave it to him and Praise the Lord he did well and the tumor start decreasing within the first 12 hours.
Esau has the most amazing laugh. He tosses his head back and laughs from the depth of his belly. He is a lover. He gives hugs to anyone who will take and he waves with both hands at everyone who passes him. I went in to see him today and he climbed up onto my lap and gave me his trademark gap tooth grin and slobbery kisses. He will be leaving the ship soon and will continue his chemo at St. Joseph’s. Please pray that he will continue getting better.
