Warriors and Survivors -93

Children Cancer Stories by Rukh Yusuf - Blog # 93

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. 

A woman from Abbottabad periphery is admitted in Oncology unit of children’s hospital with her ten-year-old son. These people from northern areas are most attractive in looks but they have lots of issues and miseries. They are poor as well but surprisingly they are grateful for everything they have. 

10 years old Muzammil Riasat got hit by a stone while playing. There was no bleeding on the spot but there was an internal wound. Muzammil had off and on pain in that wound. There are no hospitals and clinics in their locality. A couple of local hospitals are present, but they are too far. Muzammil’s mother did some home remedies but that was not enough to relive his pain and his wound did not heal. 

Muzammil’s father is a laborer, so it took him days to decide that he must take his son to a hospital. It was not easy for his father to plan a visit to hospital out of his tight work schedule and due to lack of finances. It took him weeks to take his son to hospital in Abbottabad. Doctors gave him medicines and some local application and sent him home. 

After some days his leg started swelling slowly. Muzammil was having pain as well. His parents decided to take him to Children hospital on some relative’s advice. His father managed to do this somehow seeing his son’s condition. 

In Children’s hospital, Muzammil was diagnosed with cancer. He was having Ewing Sarcoma. Poor, uneducated parents did not even know what Ewing Sarcoma was. They just knew that their son had cancer, and they had to do whatever they could in this poverty. 

It’s been three months now Muzammil is on treatment and undergoing chemotherapy. His laborer father is under lots of debt. They do not have money to pay for the cost of medicines or treatment. Many diagnostic tests are not available in the hospital, and they have to do it on their own. Living out of their hometown, food, residence, and travel is too much to handle for a distant poor family with an emotional burden of such a cruel disease. 

A difficult era been started for this simple and grateful family. Three other children are with old grandmother in Abbottabad. Allah is only sustainer 

All the stories that I write are almost similar, poor families with so much, financial, emotional and disease burden. Helplessness, poverty, agony, and most deprived people of the society. We must think, what can we do for them? How to ease them? 

They follow who treat them well, avoid who scold or mistreat them. The child is not able to think other than his pain. When this pain will decrease then he will be able to think that how miserable life has become for him and his parents. It is still a start of this painful journey, a long way to go yet...

Lot of prayers for the suffering family. Let’s pray for the full recovery of Muzammil and ease of his parents. Prayers that Muzammil recovers fully soon. Aameen. May Allah recover him soon and may he live normal healthy life again. Aameen

May Allah recover all patients. May Allah ease and cure all patients and cancer warriors. 

Note: Names have been changed to protect identity

Warriors and Survivors - 92

 Warriors and Survivors - Children Cancer Stories by Rukh Yusuf - Blog # 92

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. 

 

When I first saw four years old Haram with her mother, I was surprised about her mother’s age. I thought the little angel was all alone with her grandmother. Yes, her mother looked as old as a grandmother. It was surprising that a mother of four-year-old was an old lady with wrinkles.

Sadness overcome surprise when I talked to her. Haram’s mother became a widow twelve years ago, she had two children. Then her family remarried her, and now she has four children. To her bad luck, her new husband was an addict, who never took care of his children and wife. Haram’s mother takes care of four children, and she is not young enough to manage this big responsibility all alone. In addition to this burden, she has to take care of her younger one Haram and her chronic disease. 

Haram is four-year-old baby girl with diagnosed pre b ALL (Pre-B Acute lymphoblastic Leukemia). She has been on chemotherapy for one year.  

Her mother was working as maid and taking care of her four children at her hometown. Now she has no means of earnings as her husband does nothing being an addict. The family comes from Mandi Bahauddin for treatment. She has to leave her three children at home all alone. In this age she is running for her youngest daughter’s treatment.

Only God knows how she has managed this one year of her daughter’s treatment. Or we can say Allah has managed her treatment so far. She is altogether without any aid. 

The little one is bearing chemo and still two more years of treatment to go if everything goes smoothly. But who knows how these two years will pass as both mother and daughter have no one to help them. They are all alone in this big city, waiting for some miracle, ease and good time to come. 

Lot of prayers for the suffering family. Let’s pray for the full recovery of Haram and ease of her mother. Prayers that Haram recovers fully soon. Aameen. May Allah recover her soon and may she live normal healthy life again. Aameen

May Allah recover all patients. May Allah ease and cure all patients and cancer warriors. 

Note: Names have been changed to protect identity

Warriors and Survivors - 91

Children Cancer Stories by Rukh Yusuf - Blog # 91

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.

Though every parents have to be brave enough to raise their children, but some are exceptionally strong. Apart from a warrior child today it’s a story of a single mother Khalida, we need prayers for.

Khalida, Kashif’s mother is a single parent, she is unmarried. She has four brothers but was living alone being unmarried. Khalida’s elder sister gave her son to her, so she adopted Kashif in his early age. Now Kashif was her only focus and reason to live. When Kashif was older enough, she told him that she was not his real mother, but his aunt was his real mother. But Kashif said that for him Khalida was his mother, no matter what the reality was. Life was not perfect, but it was going well until Kashif had a persistent fever.

At age 10, while he was playing cricket, suddenly he developed pain in his abdomen and later fever.  In the next couple of days, it was persistent low-grade fever with few vomiting episodes. Later he had abdominal distension too. He was taken to local DHQ in his city. They referred the patient to Sahiwal after initial treatment.

In Sahiwal, Kashif was diagnosed as cancer patient, his laparotomy was done, and a colostomy bag was attached. He had to go through mass biopsy as well, and his diagnosis was confirmed, CA colon.

Though life with a colostomy bag is worse, but his mother was happy that Kashif was doing well. After three months when he had to go for colostomy bag removal, it was revealed that he had developed abdominal infection. Further tests confirmed that he had abdominal tumor.

Life was giving very hard time to mother and son. But the brave lady and her warrior son were again ready for the surgery. Surgery was done and his tumor was resected. They were told that Kashif will be all fine with the chemotherapy and they initiated chemotherapy.

But Kashif had again fever and he was really not doing well. Somehow, she brought him to tertiary care hospital in Lahore for better treatment. Kashif is on chemotherapy again, he had been through eight chemotherapy cycles and few more to go.

None of Khalida’s siblings are helping her, she is fighting solely for her only son. Sometimes her neighbors help her. Most of the medicines are freely available but for Oxaliplatin she has to arrange funds. It is the height of helplessness when she is unable to afford single injection to save her child. But she is still struggling.

I am unable to write more than that for her and Kashif but only prayers for the warriors that soon they become survivors.

Let’s pray for the full recovery of Kashif and ease of his mother. Prayers that Kashif recovers fully soon. Aameen. May Allah recover him soon and may he live normal healthy life. Aameen

May Allah recover all patients. May Allah ease and cure all patients and cancer warriors.

Note: Names have been changed to protect identity

Warriors and Survivors -90

Children Cancer Stories by Rukh Yusuf - Blog # 90

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.

She was having meal when she felt nausea and vomitted out. After some time, she had swollen abdomen with severe abdominal pain.

Her parents took her to hospital in Khan pur. They gave her pain injections and performed CT scan. Doctors advised she is having tumors in her abdomen.

She was referred to Children’s hospital Pediatric Oncology department. She was diagnosed as Wilms tumor after some diagnostic tests.

Samia is only four years old girl, and she is the only child of her parents. Her parent’s life revolves around her. Her father works in a factory and the family is resident of Rahim Yar Khan.

Samia’s Tumor is increasing in size and her blood pressure is still on higher side despite two antihypertensives she is receiving. Little angel is not doing well even after one chemo cycle.

Poor father has left his livelihood for the treatment of his only daughter. Life is hard. Hardships do not matter much as long as our loved ones are healthy and safe.

But Samia is not healthy, and one cannot guarantee her health in future life. But the good thing is she is fighting and her parents are fighting against cancer. Warriors always fight no matter they win or not. May she win her battle against cancer.

We only can pray for the health and recovery of Samia and her future life. Aameen

May Samia’s disease is cured fully. May she recover soon. May her parents see their daughter's smile again. Let’s pray for all the Warriors and Survivors and their health and happiness and the ease of their families. Aameen

Note: Names have been changed to protect identity.