Little girl with rare tongue tumour desperate for operation
- 6 years ago
A little girl faces a life-or-death wait over Christmas after a rare tumour caused her to have an enormous tongue - which is slowly suffocating her.
Two-year-old Zhyrille Cruz was born with a swollen mouth and was diagnosed with lymphangioma, a rare condition which causes benign growths in the lymph vessels.
Poverty-stricken parents Gerry Cruz, 28, and Mary, 22, took Zhyrille to doctors who said the condition was not serious. But they watched in despair as the lymphangioma slowly worsened leaving her with an enormous tongue stopping her breathing.
Mary took Zhyrille earlier this year to the local government 'sweepstakes office', which is the equivalent of National Lottery funding in the UK, where she received funding for doctors to fit a tube into her neck for her to breathe.
Zhyrille is now receiving free oral chemotherapy medicine at home in a desperate bid to reduce the size of the benign tumour. If the tumour is reduced, doctors will put her forward for surgery which the parents will have to try and fund themselves.
Tragically, the condition could be cured relatively easily with a straight-forward operation in the UK. Without an operation, Zhyrille is likely to be one of the rare cases - virtually unheard of in the developed world - where lymphangioma becomes fatal.
Despite the agonising wait, Zhyrille looked like any other toddler when she was photographed at her family home last week. Mum Mary, a housewife, said: ''Zhyrille is the light in our hearts. We don't know what will happen but we will make this the best Christmas for her.''
Two-year-old Zhyrille Cruz was born with a swollen mouth and was diagnosed with lymphangioma, a rare condition which causes benign growths in the lymph vessels.
Poverty-stricken parents Gerry Cruz, 28, and Mary, 22, took Zhyrille to doctors who said the condition was not serious. But they watched in despair as the lymphangioma slowly worsened leaving her with an enormous tongue stopping her breathing.
Mary took Zhyrille earlier this year to the local government 'sweepstakes office', which is the equivalent of National Lottery funding in the UK, where she received funding for doctors to fit a tube into her neck for her to breathe.
Zhyrille is now receiving free oral chemotherapy medicine at home in a desperate bid to reduce the size of the benign tumour. If the tumour is reduced, doctors will put her forward for surgery which the parents will have to try and fund themselves.
Tragically, the condition could be cured relatively easily with a straight-forward operation in the UK. Without an operation, Zhyrille is likely to be one of the rare cases - virtually unheard of in the developed world - where lymphangioma becomes fatal.
Despite the agonising wait, Zhyrille looked like any other toddler when she was photographed at her family home last week. Mum Mary, a housewife, said: ''Zhyrille is the light in our hearts. We don't know what will happen but we will make this the best Christmas for her.''