Eastern Cape lip cancer woman goes back home- treatment in Pretoria postponed

The woman diagnosed with lip cancer recently returned home on Monday, after she was told she would only start treatment in February, Rekord Moot reports.

On December 4, the Du Preez couple arrived in Gauteng and initially wanted to stay with family, but due to circumstances booked into Our Place, a guest house in Queenswood Pretoria.

The guest house owner, Linda Lourens, saw Cornelia’s mouth and was touched by her story and decided to share it with a Facebook group.

On Friday, Cornelia went to Steve Biko academic hospital where tissue from her lip was taken for testing.

On 11 December, Cornelia was informed she had a type of lip cancer known as squamous cell carcinoma caused by uncontrolled growth of abnormal squamous cells.

Her lower lip abnormally swollen with pus and had burst open.

“I’m in a lot of pain,” she told Rekord softly through the bandages around her face.

Du Preez’s husband, Georg holds her hand tightly where the couple sits and wait to see a doctor at Steve Biko’s tooth and mouth hospital.

“After doctors told us last month that they couldn’t help us because we didn’t have medical aid, I decided until now and no further,” Georg said.

The Du Preez couple drove from Port Elizabeth to Pretoria to seek further medical treatment but have since decided to go back home after they could not get the treatment they hoped for.

Georg told the media his wife got a fever blister on her lip a year and a half ago.

“The doctor initially said she should just put on Labello,” Georg said.

Eight months ago, Cornelia’s lip started swelling up where the fever blister was.

“We also tried to treat it ourselves.”

Still, the lip kept swelling.

Georg said he became extremely concerned about his wife’s lip in March.

Her condition has been so aggravated in the past few months that she lost 20kg in three months because she could not eat.

Georg makes her fruit and yoghurt smoothies or soups to drink because she can’t open her mouth much because of the swelling.

The couple’s sleeping pattern has also been disrupted.

“We have to wake up four times a night and clean the lip because there is drip pus from it.”

They even tried to treat her lip and the pain with marijuana oil.

“It feels like it’s eating away the flesh in my face.”

During the interview with the media, Cornelia repeatedly said she was in terrible pain.

Cornelia said the so-called pain plasters did not aid the pain.

Lourens told the media on Monday, she was heartbroken about the couple’s departure and hoped that Cornelia would receive the treatment she needed.

“I can’t talk about it now. It breaks my heart,” Lourens said.