Twelve-year-old Clinton Warde Jr, a bubbly first form student of President’s College (PC), dreams of becoming a doctor but his parents are worried about whether he would be able to fulfil his dreams.
The child of Paradise, West Coast Berbice was diagnosed with a brain tumour about one month ago and may require surgery in order to have a normal life again.
In an interview with Stabroek News his parents, Clinton Warde Sr. and Shaundell Warde, said he is experiencing severe headaches and pain along his spine and at the back of his neck. They are at their wits end about how to get help.
According to them the report from a CT scan done at the Woodlands Hospital revealed that “a mass is compressing the brain and the tumour is rising on the right ventricle.” The doctors explained to them that this can block the flow of blood to the head.
“He is a lively child but he would be withdrawn when he starts feeling the pain more. Sitting and looking at him in all this pain is not easy… I just wish I were a doctor and could have done something to help ease his pain,” Warde, a farmer/labourer said sadly.
Almost one month ago Clinton became ill with a severe headache while at PC and could not move. The school’s nurse rushed him to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
He was admitted a patient at the paediatric ward for three weeks and his mother, a teacher at the Belladrum Primary School stayed with him. Two days after he was discharged he started to complain of having “double vision.”
His parents said his eyes have started to squint and he has to force them to stay open. “He would tell us he is afraid that his eyes can’t open back and now the right eye starting to close – he can’t keep the lid up.”
They said while he was hospitalised a series of tests was conducted but no complaint was found. The doctor then recommended a scan for the head and the child was discharged three days later “although he still was not too well, his mother said.”
But according to them, “The hospital did not send him to get it [scan] done; if he had done it through the hospital we would have only had to pay a part of the cost.
The parents went ahead and did the scan on their own after paying for some procedural tests to be carried out. They said when the doctor at Woodlands looked at the results he told them to “move quickly or it would get worst.”
They have been praying constantly for the child’s recovery and although he is still suffering they are thankful that “he can move around a little now” with the treatment.
Warde said when the pain starts he would “keep rubbing his head, just to give him a little comfort… We are praying for God to help us; the situation is not easy.”
He said the doctor would decide if the surgery would be done locally or abroad. “I wish if they can get rid of this problem without surgery but if it is required I would see that it is done although I cannot really afford it.”
He recalled that just before Clinton, the second of five siblings wrote the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examination he was crying out for intense headaches.
He was taken to the Mahaicony Hospital and the doctors there wrote a prescription for a CT scan and also referred the child to the GPH.
However at GPH medical personnel did some more tests and gave him treatment. The doctors said at the time too that there was no need for a scan.
Warde regrets terribly that he did not go ahead and do the scan, but said he “did not want to go against the opinion of the doctors; they knew best.”
He feels that “if the scan was done then the situation would not have gotten to this stage. I would not have allowed my son’s condition to deteriorate; I would have tried to get help for him…”
Warde is pleased though, that despite all his son had gone through he had still performed well at the NGSA. He scored 523 marks and was awarded a place at St Roses High School. The child also received three trophies for his outstanding performances.
He opted to send the boy to PC instead because he did not have any place in Georgetown for him to stay.
Throughout primary school, he said, Clinton gained first place with over 90% in all his tests. At PC he placed second with 86% for the first term but was unable to write the tests for the Easter term.
He is extremely smart and his father sees him as the future doctor in the family – providing he gets the opportunity. He loves to read his books but would still make time to play a little cricket and marble games.
The child also assisted his parents with chores around the house. “He is very helpful and obedient; he is like an angel. If you tell him to do 10 chores he would do 20 – he would always go the extra mile,” Warde said.
And his mother chimed in, “When I send him to the shop he would be so happy to go and do it for me that he run and go and run and come back.”
As they spoke of the child, they both yearned for him to get back to himself again. They can be contacted on telephone numbers: 232-3448.