CHENNAI: Baby Nethran was born prematurely at just eight months on November 9, 2018, at Apollo Children’s Hospital, Chennai.
He was soon diagnosed with a multitude of problems starting with a hole in his heart, which was discovered antenatally. He was subsequently diagnosed with sepsis, recurrent lung collapses, rare cancerous tumour in the liver and abnormal fusion of his skull bones.
What followed was an eight-month battle with little Nethran having to undergo a series of procedures and chemotherapy to stay alive. Recalling his condition, the doctors said as baby Nethran was born prematurely his lungs were not fully developed. He was placed under ventilator support and his lungs kept collapsing repeatedly, they said. He also suffered from a hole in his heart and soon developed the first sepsis attack which was curtailed with antibiotics. He later developed Hepatoblastoma (a rare cancerous tumour in the liver).
Dr Latha Kanchi Parthasarathy, Consultant Neonatologist, Apollo Children’s Hospitals who along with her team handled baby Nethran’s treatment, explained that they had to start chemotherapy to combat cancer as they wanted to shrink the size of the tumour before they opted for the surgery.
“Unfortunately, on the other hand, the congenital hole in the heart was causing additional problems. The blood entering the heart was flowing too much into the lungs through the hole, increasing the pressure to dangerous levels. We had to interrupt the chemotherapy, and the child had to immediately undergo open-heart surgery.
Post-surgery, the lungs were still very fragile and were continually collapsing. To worsen the situation, the child developed sepsis again, which put the baby in a life-threatening situation”, she said detailing on the challenges encountered while treating Nethran.
However, after his successful cardiac and liver surgery, he again suffered a third sepsis attack which was cured by antibiotics. To make matters worse, his skull had started to fuse prematurely causing an abnormal head shape (like a cone). This increased the pressure within his head due to which the doctors opted for cranial surgery.
“The baby did not give up and continued to fight, which motivated us to give it our best.”, remarked Dr Latha.
Baby Nethran’s last cycle of chemotherapy was completed on 4th July. Following the positive results post-treatment, he has now been discharged.
