Children Cancer Stories by Rukh Yusuf - Blog # 84
I am Rukh Yusuf, Clinical Pharmacist, also specialized in Total Parenteral Nutrition and Bone Marrow Transplant. I have been working in Pediatric Oncology unit of a public hospital for several years. The mission of this blog is to bring to you the real-life stories of child patients suffering from cancer. Cancer is still a difficult disease to handle and treat. However, when it strikes the children, some so young that they cannot even speak, their agony is beyond expression and words. Let us pray especially for children suffering from cancer for early and complete remission. May Allah shower His Merciful Blessings upon them. Aameen.
Every single person has his/her own story; every soul carries its share of sorrows. We can’t guess a normal person walking in front of us has so much to handle until we hear them.
When we face some difficulty or trial, we think that only we are in the worst situation. There can’t be any worse condition than what we are facing now. Whenever you feel like this, just start looking around, you will see a lot of people are suffering silently. There are grief stories all around us. They are so heart touching that it becomes difficult to decide what is the biggest grief.
The key is “kindness”. A little compassion and kindness from us for everyone we deal with can lessen the pain of people who are silently suffering. Kindness heals us also; it alleviates our own sadness. When we behave politely with people around us, it becomes easy for them to bear the situation.
Abbas Ali and his mother are in a similar situation. Abbas was three when his father passed away. The single mother took responsibility and started working as maid and brought up her only child. Abbas’s grandmother helped a lot in raising him and helping her daughter. Life was not easy but passing slowly with hope that Abbas Ali will someday take the family charge and will be taking care of her. But when he was ten, his mother had to bear another great grief of her life, Abbas was diagnosed as a blood cancer patient.
After grieving for some time, she stood for treatment of her only son. She used to work some days, collect her wages, and used to take her son to hospital in Lahore for treatment. It was not as easy though as mentioned.
After many difficult days, courage, prayers and hardships Abbas Ali went in remission, and both mother and son were very happy for the outcome. They went back to hometown dreaming happily ever after.
Life started again, they were contented that bad days had passed and now Abbas would complete his education and fulfill his dreams. But once started, trials do not end easily. Just after one and a half year, Abbas Ali’s disease came back. He got sick again and upon follow up, it was revealed that he was in relapse. His disease had come back. It was a devastating news for his mother and Abbas Ali as well. He is now grown up, he has many dreams, plans for his life and his mother.
But now, chances of his treatment success are lesser than before. His mother is not agreed to start chemotherapy again as she has been counselled about treatment success rate and complications associated with relapse treatment.
Other possibility is bone marrow transplant, the poor child has no siblings and father, so he has no donor. BMT consultation is waited for haploidentical transplant, which has its own complications though.
After few days of grieving, she has decided to go for chemotherapy, which is no doubt a courageous decision. His mother is crying continuously, she is not able to speak even. Abbas Ali is silent; he does not know what to think and speak.
Life has brought them at a very cruel stage. Sometimes it becomes even difficult to just look at the child out of grief and helplessness. We healthcare providers only can do our part. Only Allah can heal these patients.
Prayers for the ease for Abbas Ali and his mother and grandmother. Aameen
Request for special prayers for Abbas Ali, that he recovers as soon as possible. May Allah grant some miracle for his complete recovery and may his disease never come back again. Aameen
Prayers for the ease of Abbas and his family. May Allah recover all patients. May Allah ease and cure all patients and cancer warriors.
Note: Names have been changed to protect identity
No comments:
Post a Comment