Little Laticia

It’s early on a Saturday morning, and little Laticia is lifting her head over the bars of her hospital cot in Tygerberg Hospital, playing peek-a-boo with her mom, Patricia. Laticia is another hernia patient, but while some of the patients in the ward are nervously awaiting their first surgery, Laticia has already had three in her four-year-old lifetime. She was born with a slight abnormality in her colon which means she can’t pass waste normally and had to have a colostomy when she was only a few months old. She’s grown up with a stoma (a surgical hole in her belly) and a collection bag, which is how she passes waste.

Living with a colostomy bag doesn’t hinder Laticia’s can-do-attitude to life. “She’s like a boy,” Letitia laughs. “She’s very active and friendly and is always playing with other children! I can’t keep her still.”

Laticia has developed a hernia, which is very common for patients living with stomas – especially ones who are as active as little Laticia is. It’s a painful little lump poking out of Laticia’s belly, which, is also causing her colostomy bag to leak. She needs surgery to relieve the pain, and to go back to living a normal life – although she’s still very young, Patricia would like her to grow up without feeling ashamed of living with a stoma.

The Weekend Waiting List has made it possible for Laticia have the corrective surgery relatively quickly after Patricia discovered the protruding hernia around her daughter’s stoma and is very grateful that their waiting time was a matter of weeks instead of months. Mother and daughter woke up very early to drive from their home in Strand to Tygerberg, about a forty-minute drive, and despite being hungry, Laticia is still a cheery little Energizer Bunny. One would almost be forgiven for missing the little signs of Laticia’s discomfort, scratching at her stomach over her shirt, and shifting her body weight every so often. For her part, although she is a devoted mother, Patricia is looking forward to the colostomy bag doing its job properly.

This isn’t the last surgery Laticia is likely to have in her lifetime, but getting the effective care she needs without having been stuck in long waiting lists is giving her the best shot she has at growing up as a happy, healthy, normal child. Laticia and Patricia are a resilient pair – but it’s been made easier for them knowing programs like the Weekend Waiting List Initiative exist to ease their worries.