Novemthree Siahaan
Novemthree Siahaan (November 3, 1998 – September 14, 2005[1]) was a young Indonesian boy who had the rare condition gigantiform cementoma. The story of his life garnered much media attention when he was taken to Taiwan for treatment. His surgeries were filmed for international broadcast on the Discovery television network.
Background
Born with a normal face in Batam Island, November 3, 1998, Indonesia, Novemthree was raised in a poor village. His parents sent him to live with his grandparents in Sumatra when he was a few months old for ten months as both parents had to work, before the cementoma had started to grow. When Novemthree returned to Batam, the cementoma had already grown to alarming size; so much that his mother questioned if it were actually their son. Extremely concerned, Novemthree's parents brought him to the local medicine men (the only service they could afford), who 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 due to rickets caused by vitamin D deficiency as he could not properly eat all that he needed, had respiratory problems due to his airway being blocked, and had to lift his head up to drink. Before surgery, the cementoma weighed in approximately at two pounds.
Medical care in Taiwan
David Liu, a volunteer with the charity Tzu Chi on a medical mission in Batam, discovered Novemthree's family and arranged for a CT scan at a hospital, which was then sent to Tzu Chi Buddhist General Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan, where the surgeons decided Novemthree needed immediate medical attention. The charity arranged for the boy and his father's travel to Hualien.
The surgeons placed a tube in Novemthree's trachea to allow him to breathe while removing the majority of his tumours. The surgeons would have to cut the tumors in three different surgeries and re-sculpt his face by carving the tumour material left behind because the tumors had destroyed much of his facial structure: the carved material was the only way to provide support. The first surgery was performed on Novemthree's left cheek, giving him sight in his left eye. The second surgery performed was to excise the tumor under his chin. The third surgery excised the tumour in his mouth and nasal cavity as well as the one in his right cheek. With the majority of the masses removed with each surgery, the remaining material was carved by a plastic surgeon with chisels and an electric saw to sculpt out facial features. In spite of doubts from the surgical team, he regained sight in his right eye as well; the tumor had prevented his sight via pressure on the optic nerve. The final surgery would resize Novemthree's mouth, and reconstruct his face to approximate normality.
Novemthree had to endure physical therapy to regain his ability to walk, and speech therapy to teach him how to speak again. Though it was expected that he would need future surgeries, Novemthree was soon allowed back home. The hope was that the boy would be able to recuperate as well as mature, so that more bone would grow for the doctors to continue to reshape Novemthree's face, such as from the legs or ribs. It was hoped that the re-expansion of the tumours, which was inevitable, would take two to three years before the surgeons would have to operate again.
Death
One year later the tumour, which had been shaped to form the lost skull bones, began to grow back. He was taken back to the hospital with his mother for further surgery as the tumors had grown faster than the doctors expected and his breathing was becoming restricted. A second procedure was needed. However, doctors hesitated to perform the operation due to concerns about the necessity of a permanent tracheotomy (which would be difficult to keep clean due to poor sanitary conditions in his home village) as well as the unexpected rapidity of the tumour's regrowth. Novemthree was sent back home mere hours before the original time for the operation.[1] On September 14, 2005, Novemthree died in his sleep, at the age of 6, due to a respiratory infection in his chest. The Tzu Chi foundation gave him a proper burial.
Media
Novemthree's story was shared on the Discovery Health Channel in 2005. Viewers were drawn to Novemthree's story because of the severity of the deformity as well as the boy's sweet character. His father Siahaan describes his son as "a kind, wise and clever kid. Whenever he was feeling ill he never once complained to us, he simply took all his suffering on his own.[1]". It was only at the end of the program in a footnote, did viewers learn of Novemthree's death. A second TV show about Novemthree and his medical condition has been produced and aired, in which his death is also depicted.