Tumor removal gives girl new hope<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A basement training room at Pondok Indah
\nHospital was filled good laughter, practical jokes and well-
\nwishers on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Doctors and nurses in their all-white fatigues crammed the
\nroom, whistling and laughing. Occupying the left row of chairs
\nwere a dozen or so fragrant, neatly dressed wives of the
\nhospital's share holders.<\/p>\n
\"Hey, you look great, the pretty one... I almost mistook you
\nfor Memes,\" a doctor said as he approached a girl sitting
\nawkwardly near two rice cones, unable to move her neck and
\nlooking straight ahead.<\/p>\n
The girl in the light green dress, whom the surgeon likened to
\nthe famed pop singer, was Lasmi, a poor peasant from Lampung who
\nsuccessfully underwent tumor surgery at the hospital on May 23.<\/p>\n
A nurse called her \"Alya Rohali\", referring to Indonesia's
\nbeauty, whose recent participation in the annual Miss Universe
\npageant held in the U.S. stirred endless debates.<\/p>\n
The 13-year-old girl with shoulder-length black hair was
\nrecovering following surgery to remove a three-and-a-half
\nkilogram tumor which had formed on her neck. It had reached a
\nsize larger than her head.<\/p>\n
The girl, who could barely look around, was the toast of the
\nday. The hospital threw a celebration party for her successful
\noperation, which the surgeons had performed free of charge.<\/p>\n
\"Her surgical wound is recovering. There is no complication
\nwhatsoever,\" Dr. Siswanto, the hospital's medical director, said.<\/p>\n
The free surgery was part of the Pondok Indah Hospital's
\nsocial services conducted in connection with its 10th
\nanniversary.<\/p>\n
Lasmi dropped out of school when she was in grade two because
\nshe was too ashamed of her large tumor, which was impossible to
\nhide.<\/p>\n
She is lucky to have the sympathy of a modern health hospital.
\nNot only did she have her heavy burden removed, but she also had
\nthe investors' wives promises of further assistance.<\/p>\n
\"We will help her until she finishes high school,\" said Anna
\nR. Subagdja, who represented the share holders' wives at the
\nparty.<\/p>\n
Lasmi was delighted at the prospect of returning to school
\nwith a radically new appearance. \"Go back to school,\" was her shy
\nreply when flooded with questions on her plans.<\/p>\n
Lasmi, whom Siswanto found in a remote village of Tulangbawang
\nUdik in Lampung last month, had but once previously had her huge
\ntumor medically checked, long before her recent operation.<\/p>\n
The only occasion her parents had brought their daughter to a
\ndoctor was when she was 14 months old. Her parents, cassava
\ntransmigrant farmers from Java who own a one-hectare farm, were
\ntoo poor to afford the medical expenses.<\/p>\n
\"(When she was 14 months old) She had a tumor the size of a
\nfinger tip removed, but it grew again,\" recounted her mother,
\nMrs. Sakimo, who looked after her during her post-operation care.<\/p>\n
According to Dr. Siswanto, Lasmi had a birth abnormality in
\nthe area of her upper spine, which caused fat to grow unchecked.<\/p>\n
\"We have uprooted the whole tumor. Theoretically, it will not
\ngrow again. But remember: something like a tumor is sometimes
\nunpredictable,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Lasmi was flown to Bandar Lampung's Abdul Muluk
\nHospital in Lampung, where she will continue her post-surgery
\nmedication. (pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tumor-removal-gives-girl-new-hope-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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