Novemthree Siahaan
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Novemthree Siahaan was a young boy who had a rare condition known as gigantiform cementoma. The story of his treatment and life was shown on television.
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[edit] The "Face Eating Tumour"
Born with a normal face in Batam Island, Indonesia, Novemthree was raised in a poor village. His mother sent him to live with his grandparents at a young age, before the cementoma had start to grow. When they returned Novemthree roughly eight months later, the cementoma had already grown to alarming size; so much that Novemthree's parents questioned if it was actually their son. Extremely concerned, Novemthree's parent's brought him to the local doctor (the only one they could afford) and he informed Novemthree's father that it was most likely black magic that was supposed to affect him, but instead attacked Novemthree. Time passed, and the cementoma had grown to cover nearly his entire face. Novemthree could no longer see out of his right eye, lost his ability to walk, had breathing problems due to his airway being blocked from the cementoma, and had to lift his head up to drink. Before receiving surgery, the cementoma weighed in approximately at two pounds.
[edit] Help Arrives
Novemthree had to receive immediate medical attention, but first he had to lose his ability to speak for the surgery to go on. The surgeons placed a tube in Novemthree's trachea to allow him to breathe while removing his tumours. The surgeons would have to cut the tumour in three different surgeries and re-sculpt his face with the remaining tumours, because the tumors had destroyed much of his facial structure. The first surgery was performed on Novemthree's left cheek, giving him sight in his left eye. The second surgery performed was to cut the tumour on his right cheek. In spite of doubts from the surgical team, he regained sight in his right eye as well. The final surgery would remove the tumour from Novemthree's mouth, and reconstruct his face to near normalcy. Novemthree had to endure physical therapy to regain his ability to walk, and speech therapy to attempt to teach him how to speak again. Though it was expected that he would need future surgeries, Novemthree was soon allowed back home.
[edit] Death
On September 14, 2005, Novemthree died in his sleep, due to a respiratory infection in his chest. The Tzu Chi foundation gave him a proper burial. Novemthree's story was shared on the Discovery Health Channel in 2005.
