Landscaper appeals to Health Ministry to approve lifesaving device

Landscaper Vivian Williams is appealing to the authorities to grant approval for a $500,000 part to replace his knee which has been eaten away by cancer. He said he is faced with the choice between replacing his knee and amputation.

Speaking with Newsday at his Cascade home, the 37-year-old said he was first diagnosed with a giant cell tumour in 2017. This type of cancer occurs in one person per million every year, according to Johns Hopkins University. Since then, Williams has had four surgeries to remove pieces of the benign tumour, which, unlike a malignant tumour, does not spread to other parts of the body. It instead grows in one place, consuming the surrounding structures.

Williams said doctors have attempted to use other procedures to get rid of the tumour such as scraping the tumour out of the bone and bone grafting with natural and artificial bone, but these had been unsuccessful.

“The first bone graft was successful but then it got infected. In the second surgery they implanted a piece of surgical cement molded to form an artificial bone to fill the area where the tumour eats away the bone. That had to be removed in the third surgery because It was swelling bigger and the piece of bone was moving around and poking through the skin of my leg. It’s not something for somebody to have to deal with, you know what it is for something to be moving in your body?

“When I did my third surgery, the surgeon said I shouldn’t do therapy because he didn’t think I’d be able to walk again but my therapist said he believed I could come back, and he worked my leg like a wrestler. He used to be bending my foot and you heard all the bones cracking and I was able to start doing things again. I’ve had another procedure since then in July 2021, because the tumour keeps coming back, it’s spreading faster than it was growing before, and now my doctors are pressing but they can’t get approval to get the part.”

He described the process which would happen when the part, known as a mega-prosthesis, was approved.

“When inserting the prosthesis, they will cut the femur, and implant a rod inside it, then put a cap on top of the tibia, replacing the kneecap. If people could see the condition of my leg, they would understand how crucial it is, because it affects my knee to the point that I can’t bend my knee like a normal person, I can’t travel until I get a drop, I can’t run, I can’t bend, I can’t do a lot of things, it’s constant swelling, constant pain on a daily basis, totally uncomfortable all the way around, emotionally, physically, mentally. I don’t have any range of motion in the leg, I can’t bend my knee at all. I can’t even travel in the back of a regular vehicle.”

He said he doesn’t have insurance to be able to afford a prosthetic leg, and even so, this would negatively affect his landscaping business.

“I have had to train people to do the work I was doing. I’ve been landscaping for about 15 years, five years full-time. It was a hobby at first, but when Arcelor Mittal where I used to work closed, I went into landscaping full-time. I have a lot of clients, most from where I live in Cascade, and I used to work mostly by myself, but when the cancer started to spread, I had to employ people full-time.”

Williams said the approval of the part does not seem to be a priority for the Health Ministry. He said he has gone to the RHAs in Trinidad, the customer service department at the ministry, and even appealed to people he knows who work there, to no avail.

“They’re giving covid19 patients first preference, and people who come in as emergency cases, but I’m asking is my case not an emergency? I really need to get this done, I’m really young, I’m only 37, I have no children yet.

“If my health is not good, I won’t be able to have a family, I won’t be able to provide, I won’t be able to run after my children. It affects me mentally when I think about losing my leg. I try to keep a positive attitude and a lot of people don’t know I’m struggling, because I’m a willing and able person.”

Anyone wishing to contact Williams can e-mail vivianwilliams@live.com or call 681-1731.