KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) – Muhammad Naim Azly Robort Rashid has a cheerful public persona but in private, he is going through much tribulation as he is suffering from osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
This 22-year-old from Terengganu sells various products on the Shopee e-commerce platform to help support his parents, who are odd-job workers, and family. He also has to pay for his cancer treatment and the various health supplements he has to take daily, for which he has forked out over RM5,000 so far.
“It’s in my nature not to wallow in self-pity… I just want to move forward and do something beneficial. I don’t want to rely too much on other people’s help or aid even though I’ve OKU (Person with Disability) status,” said Muhammad Naim Azly, whose right leg has been amputated due to the bone cancer, which is now at stage four.
Muhammad Naim Azly was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in March 2020. He had then just completed a certificate-level course at the Kuala Terengganu Community College and was working part-time at a solar energy factory in Bayan Lepas, Penang, to fund his further studies.
SURGERY
“It all started one evening when my right knee felt very sore and my body trembled like crazy while I was at work in the factory. Eventually, I had to quit my job because I was feeling too sick,” he told Bernama.
Later, he went for a check-up at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, where the doctors confirmed that he had osteosarcoma and needed to undergo surgery.
“After the operation, I had to prepare myself mentally and physically to continue living as a disabled person. I also knew that if I want to survive, I would have to undergo chemotherapy sessions.
“Being an OKU, I’ve registered myself with the Department of Social Welfare Malaysia but I’ve not received any aid from the department yet to ease my financial burden in terms of my cancer treatment costs,” said Muhammad Naim Azly, who sells items such as key chains, Al-Quran pointers, cup liners and car perfumes via Shopee.
He said he now earns about RM1,000 to RM2,000 a month from his Shopee account, compared to just RM50 a month previously when he sold his products through Facebook.
Upon creating an account with Shopee, one of the first things he did was hold live broadcast sessions to sell his sister’s hijab collection.
To his pleasant surprise, the response was overwhelming with hundreds of people tuning in to his live broadcasts.
“Apparently, my name went viral on various social media sites and many people sympathised with my plight (health condition). But I also received my share of verbal abuse from people who thought I was making up stories to take advantage of people’s kindness,” he said, adding that his intention was only to make an honest living and not to seek sympathy.
RARE DISORDER
Meanwhile, KPJ Klang Specialist Hospital orthopaedic surgeon Dr Abdul Yazid Mohd Kassim said osteosarcoma is a rare disorder that occurs in children, teenagers and adults aged between 10 and 30.
He said the prevalence of osteosarcoma in Malaysia is about one to two persons per 100,000 of the population. Based on a paper published in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology 2015, HUSM treated 163 osteosarcoma patients between 2005 and 2010.
“Although it is not clear what causes osteosarcoma, certain factors are associated with an increased risk, including rare genetic syndromes passed through families that increase the risk of bone cancer, among them being Li-Fraumeni syndrome, hereditary retinoblastoma (a condition where nerve cells in the retina develop genetic mutations) and Paget’s disease of bone.
“Other factors include cancer radiation therapy… exposure to large doses of radiation, such as those given during radiation therapy for cancer, increases the risk of bone cancer in the future,” he explained.
Osteosarcoma symptoms may vary from person to person, depending on the type and size of the tumour. Generally, the signs and symptoms are pain and swelling in the affected area with the pain becoming more intense at night, susceptibility to fractures, as well as unexplained loss of appetite and weight, he added.
Dr Abdul Yazid said osteosarcoma patients can lead a normal life once they have completed the chemotherapy or radiotherapy cycles. For patients who have completed their treatment, the five-year relative survival rate is 43 to 50 percent.
“But in my opinion, one of the main problems is that public understanding of osteosarcoma is very low considering that it is a rare bone disease (osteosarcoma comprises only one percent of total cancer cases diagnosed in the nation). This needs to change and medical professionals should educate the public using all the means available,” he said.
Commenting on the treatments available for osteosarcoma in Malaysian hospital settings, he said patients have to follow the guidelines and protocol of osteosarcoma treatment, such as undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy, limb-sparing surgery (surgical removal of the tumour) or radiotherapy.
“Chemotherapy may be given before surgery to shrink a tumour or following surgery to eliminate any remaining cancer cells and lessen the risk of a recurrence,” he added.
Sources: BERNAMA
