The Bothma family’s journey with ‘Faith’, hope and cancer: 3-year old from eMalahleni, diagnosed with cancer
Faith Bothma was diagnosed with cancer before her third birthday.
The festive season is all about hope, faith and love, but for the Bothma family, it’s all about a story of challenges, hope and faith and child cancer awareness.
“My aim is that if my sharing can save one child or give one parent hope, we can continue paying it forward and making a difference. I’m a mom with Multiple Sclerosis diagnosed when I was 21-years-old, and we were blessed with a beautiful healthy baby girl named Faith three years ago,” Faith’s mother, Yolanda Bothma said.
In May this year, the little girl was diagnosed with Pleuropulmonary Blastoma Cancer stage three, a day before her third birthday.
“Faith fractured her elbow in February and got flu-like symptoms in March. She received antibiotics, cough, fever and runny nose medicine for the whole of March. In April, she was fine, but then the same symptoms returned in May. That’s when we took her to her paediatrician a day before her birthday. He arranged for speed blood tests and chest x-rays,” she added sadly.
Her HP levels were so low and her bacteria count so extremely high that she was immediately admitted to Montana Hospital. Faith’s paediatrician arranged a CT scan and a blood transfusion.
There they found a tumour which was covering 90% of her entire right chest. (Tumour size was 105x75x55 mm and 593g in weight).
Faith went in for surgery two days later for a biopsy and for the specialists to determine how they can remove the tumour. The next day they managed to remove 80% of the tumour but unfortunately, a third of her right lung and a piece of her hernia also had to be removed.
“A week later my husband Bruce and I got the results back from the biopsy done on the tumour, and we were told it was malignant. Faith underwent her first set of chemotherapy from June 5 to 7, repeatedly every four weeks. The shocking effects of chemo on our girl were devastating. Seeing her losing her hair, ability to walk, losing weight, endless feeding tubes and just seeing her in agonising pain, her tiny body getting so frail and weak,” said the devastated mother.
It was turning for the family when Faith’s PET scan came back as negative which meant that cancer had not spread any further.
Faith’s chemo was strong in the beginning with many visits to the hospital as she had high fevers and difficulty breathing.
She received injections at home to keep her white blood cell count up as chemo kills those cells too. She spent days in ICU with a severe chest infection.
“Faith is now on her second phase of chemo with reduced dosage, and she will receive her last treatment in January 2021. In four weeks, a CT scan will be done followed by a PET scan and radiation. I truly want to create awareness for cancer, especially kids with it, signs and symptoms to look out for. Follow your instincts and get a second or even third opinion for your sick child. Don’t wait till it’s too late,” she added.
The family truly wants to thank the people that supported them and is taking this life-changing journey with them.
“Family, friends, Pastor Deon Scheepers, anonymous supporters, the foundations like Cupcakes of Hope and Cupcakes 4 Kids with Cancer who sent Santa’s helper (thanks Marli) to our home with an early Christmas present for Faith. Our God and our support structure keep us going strong,” the Bothma family praised the supporters.
This journey is real and oncology parents go through a lot of emotions with their kids. “Worries, sadness, anger, financial stress, but through it all, we keep on receiving strength and God’s blessings. Keep the faith and trust in Jesus,” Yolanda concluded.
*Readers can follow Faith’s journey on Facebook @ Faith’s Cancer Fund raiser
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