Boy diagnosed with cancer, found to have typhoid

AHMEDABAD: The family of an 11-year-old boy, Hiren Makwana, from Rajasthan spent two weeks thinking he would die as the boy had been incorrectly diagnosed with blood cancer. Hiren was to undergo chemotherapy at a hospital in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. But the family decided to consult doctors in Ahmedabad. The family was shocked but also relieved when city doctors said Hiren just had typhoid.
Doctors who had made the wrong diagnosis told Rupali and Madhav (Hiren’s parents) that their son had just some months to live as tests showed he had ‘pancytopenia’, a condition in which there is a sharp fall in the number of red and white blood cells and platelets.
Madhav, who has a small grocery shop, could not afford the treatment. Hence, he requested his relatives for money. Luckily, a friend suggested him to consult doctors in Ahmedabad.
Dr Surabhi Madan, an infectious diseases consultant at a private hospital in Sola, said: “When we examined the boy, we found that he had complicated typhoid fever. We immediately put him on heavy antibiotics. He recovered within 14 days.”
Had Hiren taken chemotherapy for cancer, he would have suffered hair loss, anaemia, fatigue, nausea and other risky complications.