Young boy becomes a rare survivor

BANGALORE: It all started with constant headaches, vomiting, imbalance while walking and lasted for six months. That is when Manje Gowda, father of Mithun (6) took him to two leading city hospitals but the symptoms continued to haunt the youngster even after undergoing medication.
A family friend referred coconut merchant Manje Gowda to Dr N K Venkataramanaa, vice chairman and chief neurosurgeon at BGS Global Hospitals and the problem was diagnosed."Investigation revealed a growth in the brain stem, with hydrocephalus (accumulation of fluid) in the brain," said Dr Venkataramanna. Mithun first underwent surgery in January 2009 on the right side of his brain. He underwent chemotherapy for the same.
All was well till May 2013 when the symptoms recurred. The tumor had re-grown with a cyst compressing the brain stem. "This time, during the surgery, the cyst and the solid part of the tumor was removed. He had developed high grade glioma," said the doctor.
Glioma is a tumor in the brain stem. The young boy underwent radiotherapy through the best technology ie TrueBeam Stx. Mithun was administered 30 fractions of TrueBeam Stx radiotherapy for six weeks along with regular chemotherapy.
Post treatment, his tumor is in remission and now he is back to being an active kid.
But it was anxious moments for the family when Mithun started showing those symptoms. "It was indeed tough and we kept running pillar-to-post till we got here. Mithun had to discontinue school for a while when he had severe symptoms. He is now back in school," said Manje Gowda.