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 Health Channel.

Background[]

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Novemthree was born on November 3, 1998, in Batam Island, Indonesia, and was raised in a poor village. His parents sent him to live with his grandparents in Sumatra for ten months when he was a few months old, as both parents had to work. At that time, his face appeared normal. When Novemthree returned to Batam, the cementoma had already grown to alarming size; so much so that his mother questioned if it were actually their son. Novemthree's parents brought him to the local medicine men who informed Novemthree's father that it was most likely black magic. The cementoma grew to cover nearly his entire face, interfering with his vision, his breathing, and his ability to eat. His poor diet caused vitamin D deficiency and rickets so that he could not walk. Before surgery, the cementoma weighed approximately 2 lb (0.91 kg).

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. The scan was 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 to travel to Hualien.

The first surgery was performed on Novemthree's left cheek, returning the vision in his left eye. The second surgery excised 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. In spite of doubts from the surgical team, he regained sight in his right eye after removing the tumor that was pressing on the optic nerve. The final surgery resized Novemthree's mouth, and reconstructed his face to approximate normality.

Novemthree underwent physical therapy to regain his ability to walk, and speech therapy. Though it was expected that he would need future surgeries, Novemthree was allowed to go back home. The hope was that the boy would have time to recuperate and grow, providing more bone to use as grafts to reshape his face, before the inevitable re-growth of the tumors made more surgery necessary.^[1]

Death[]

One year later, the tumours began to grow back and his breathing was becoming restricted. A CT scan showed that tumors were regrowing in every part of his face. Doctors hesitated to perform more surgery because of the necessity of a permanent tracheotomy which would be difficult to keep clean away from the hospital, and because of the unexpected aggressiveness of the tumours. The decision was made to send Novemthree home without surgery, and on September 14, 2005, Novemthree died in his sleep, due to a respiratory infection.^[1] The Tzu Chi foundation paid for his 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 described 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] A second TV show about Novemthree and his medical condition has been produced and aired, in which his death is also depicted.^{[citation needed]}

References[]