2023-09-21 18:30:02
Due to a breakdown of a device in the radiotherapy department of the University Hospital, patients are forced to wait until a new date is offered to them for their treatment. Testimony of a Saint-Martin resident who came to Guadeloupe for treatment, as part of his fight once morest cancer.
In Guadeloupe, European Prostate Cancer Day yesterday (Wednesday September 20, 2023) was marred by a malfunction within the radiotherapy department of the Guadeloupe University Hospital Center (CHUG). Since September 11, one of its two devices has been broken. However, this particle accelerator is an essential tool in the treatment of cancer. It helps eliminate cancer cells present in the body.
The radiotherapy department is waiting to receive the parts ordered in the United States.
But, in the meantime, its stakeholders are limited in their activities, having only one device in two at their disposal. It is impossible for them to meet all needs.
As a result, around fifty patients found themselves temporarily deprived of care.
This is the case of Guillaume Paines, 71 years old. This resident of Saint-Martin came specially to the archipelago, since September 5, to begin his treatment. After starting well, it was abruptly interrupted. The man testifies:
We’re here waiting. I have 33 sessions to do and, here, I have done 5 sessions. I’m a little worried, but I’m waiting. In 2017, I had an operation in Guadeloupe and, since then, I had blood tests every 6 months. I was told that cancer is starting once more. They saw that I needed to have radiotherapy. I was happy, yes, to do it once more. And, there I am, I don’t know when it’s going to start once more, or what’s going to happen.
Guillaume Paines, 71, resident of Saint-Martin, suffering from cancer
The reappearance of cancer was synonymous with a new ordeal to live through, therefore, for this patient who thought he had overcome it. He was ready to go through the necessary treatment once more, to get through it once more.
And here he is subjected to stress which he would have done well without. His treatment is postponed indefinitely.
The head of the urology department at the CHUG, Professor Pascal Blanchet, informs that once the device is operational once more, the patients concerned will benefit from a rehabilitation of their treatment to make up for the delay caused.
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