Not only has an 11-year-old girl been diagnosed with uterine cancer, but she and her family were also told the only way to stop it from killing her was to have a hysterectomy, changing the lives of Nita-Jané Herselman, her mother Suné, and her family.
When they first heard Nita-Jané’s diagnosis, they – and the doctors at Lenmed Royal Hospital & Heart Centre in Kimberley – were in uncharted waters, reports News24.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen an 11-year-old with uterine cancer,” said Dr JP Spangenberg, the gynaecologist who made the diagnosis and is now part of a multidisciplinary team working to treat the girl.
In addition to surgeons and oncologists, fertility specialists are also on board to ensure that if Nita-Jané wants biological children one day, she might be able to have them.
At this point she’s too young to make this decision so her parents are trying to keep her options open by harvesting eggs from her ovaries before she undergoes the surgery to remove her womb.
The eggs will be frozen and if their daughter wants children one day, she’ll need the help of a surrogate to carry her baby.
Nita-Jané recently started receiving hormone injections to kick-start the egg-retrieval process. Once her eggs are harvested, she’ll have the hysterectomy that will offer her the best chance of beating the cancer.
After that, she’ll need four to six months of chemotherapy.
The start
In April, Nita-Jané noticed spots of blood in her underwear. Six months before, she’d had her first period and dealt with the normal symptoms that come with menstruation – cramps, tiredness and bloating.
At first the family didn’t think the spotting was anything unusual but they became concerned when it started affecting the Grade 5 pupil’s quality of life.
“I felt tired and I had pain in my stomach,” Nita-Jané recalls.
Two months later the bleeding became heavier and was happening more often. Some days Suné, who works as an admin clerk, would get a call from the school to collect her daughter within hours of dropping her off because the bleeding was so bad she couldn’t focus on her lessons.
Their family doctor prescribed medication to stop the bleeding. “It would stop for five days, then start again,” Suné said.
By July, the bleeding was so heavy Suné decided to make an appointment with a gynaecologist but they had to wait until September for an appointment.
The news was troubling. “The doctor said it looked as if she had a polyp,” Suné said.
They were told that although it’s extremely rare for a child to develop this type of growth, which generally appears in the lining of the uterus, polyps usually aren’t cancerous.
Nita-Jané underwent a polypectomy to remove it – and that’s when doctors discovered it wasn’t in fact a polyp but instead something much more worrying.
Ninety percent of the growth was removed and sent to a pathologist – and Nita-Jané was diagnosed with uterine sarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer that forms in the muscles and tissues of the womb.
“It was shocking. I didn’t expect to hear cancer. I knew something was wrong, but not cancer,” her mother said.
This wasn’t the only bad news Suné had to deal with: her mother, Joanie (60) was diagnosed with cancer on the same day.
Thankfully, Nita-Jané's bleeding has stopped but she still suffers from fatigue and takes iron tablets.
“She tries to go to school and stay active,” Suné said. “But if she’s not up to it, I keep her home. I have to keep her strong before the treatment.”
News24 article – Northern Cape girl diagnosed with uterine cancer (Restricted access)
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