October/November 2018

Business - Leisure - Lifetyle
“SHANAYA THE FIRST” TAKES ON
STAGE 4 EWING’S SARCOMA
Meet the Govenders and their soon to be 5 year old daughter, determined to beat
cancer, Shanaya - who’s relapsed 3 months into maintenance phase of chemotherapy
following her diagnosis with Stage 4 Ewing’s Sarcoma in her left humerus, with
metastasis in both her lungs, in September 2017.
Ewings sarcoma is a cancerous tumor that
grows in the bones or in the tissue around
bones (soft tissue) - often the legs, pelvis, ribs,
arms or spine. Ewings sarcoma can spread to the
lungs, bones and bone marrow. Ewing sarcoma is
the second most common type of bone cancer in
children, but it is very rare. Adolescent boys are predominantly
diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma due
to rapid growth spurs.
SHANAYA'S BATTLE BEGAN IN APRIL 2017
For mom Lee-Ann, dad Shane and brother Vikeshlyn,
their lives have since been a rollercoaster.
THE SYMPTOMS EXPERIENCED
Excruitiating pain in her arm
Body temperature reaching over 40 degrees celcius
Tiredness, weight loss, loss in appetite
Increased swelling to the affected area
Difficulty in movement of the affected area
Numbness in her fingers and arm
13 SEPTEMBER A LIFE CHANGING DAY
“That took us by complete shock and honestly a
piece of us died that day”
Having being misdiagnosed for approximately five
months witnessing their baby girl go through excrutiating
pain and thereafter been given the emotionally
painful news in September 2017 that their 3 year old
is now with an aggressive rare bone cancer, was by no
means easy for the parents to digest and drastically impacted
on all of their lives
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