Pretoria - Caleb Opperman of Calvinia, Northern Cape, brought light into his grandmother Sienna Opperman’s life. But soon that light dimmed when the doctors told her Caleb was suffering from a rare type of cancer.
The grandmother was shattered, but non-profit organisation (NPO) Choc Childhood Cancer Foundation SA stepped in and is making life a little easier for the two.
It is a parent support organisation established in 1979 by parents for parents to support a child who has been diagnosed with cancer or a life-threatening blood disorder, and their family.
Choc is now a registered and internationally recognised NPO, whose aim it is to provide life-changing and all-embracing support programmes to both the child or teenager and their families, from the get-go, once a diagnosis has been given.
The team said that this could not be done if they didn’t augment with the medical fraternities across South Africa.
Their services include emotional support through the child’s cancer journey and bereavement support, as well as practical support for patients and families. This is through essential care bags, supplying nutritional food support, assisting with accommodation as well as transport to and from treatments and educational and awareness programmes in the early warning signs of childhood cancer.
At any one time Choc can have more than 1 500 children and teenagers in its care, while offering psychosocial support to over 1 500 families.
As an NPO, it is essential that Choc receives and sustains its funds to support these courageous children and teenagers, so that they can keep on fighting even when their young bodies are exhausted and hurting.
Without their support, many children – particularly from low-income families living far from treatment centres – would not be able to access the necessary treatment, which can last for years.
Opperman and Caleb are also benefiting from Choc.
Caleb was born with meningitis. When he recovered, his grandmother knew that he had the spirit of a fighter.
“When Caleb wants to achieve something, nothing can stop him … Even when I say no, he would just hold my face up against his and rub his nose on mine and he would get his way,” his granny said.
Last year on a school excursion, Caleb, now aged 12, started sweating profusely, and was taken to the pharmacy to find medicine to stop the sweating.
The pharmacist recommended they see a doctor. On their way to the doctor, the sweating had stopped, and Caleb felt better so they decided not to proceed.
In June, Caleb and Opperman visited relatives in Cape Town. Caleb stepped on a chicken bone which cut his foot and was treated immediately. A few days later on their return home, Caleb’s heart started to beat extremely fast and he was taken to hospital where they were told that his blood pressure was high.
He was subsequently diagnosed with a rare form of cancer – paraganglioma. It is a type of neuroendocrine tumour that forms near certain blood vessels and nerves outside of the adrenal glands.
“I remember crying when the doctors told me, because cancer was not something foreign to us. My sister and my daughter battled cancer … Now it was my grandson,” Opperman said.
Caleb meanwhile started chemotherapy where he assured the doctors that he would do his best to be strong because he is a fighter. Doctors referred him and his grandmother to Choc to help them with all their needs, while he had treatment.
Last month, they were referred to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital where Caleb was due for an operation.
The organisation ensured that their travel arrangements were made and that they would be taken to a Choc house.
“It is a home away from home. I can rest assured that my grandson is playing outside and nothing and no one can harm him,” Opperman said.
As he is fighting his cancer, Caleb remains a strong boy who is obsessed with cars, debating, playing with his friends and cousins, and he adores his grandmother.
Pretoria News