Warriors and Survivors - 105

Children Cancer Stories by Rukh Yusuf - Blog # 105

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. 

“It was just an ordinary day two years from now. Winter season was coming to an end, and the family had such an incident that their lives changed abruptly. The family had dinner with a few relative families and half a dozen toddlers were running up and down hallways and jumping on couches. Therefore, when a 5-year-old son Adil casually mentioned to his mother that his hip was sore, the mother assumed he bumped himself and she hoped it will be better soon.

When Adil mentioned it a second time, the mother noticed a slight bump on his left side. Both parents decided to take him to the hospital just to be safe. Both thought they may be overreacting, but they decided to be cautious. 

It came out that it was kidney tumor “Nephroblastoma” that was bothering Adil since few days.

Adil’s mother is an experienced nurse and she said “Hearing that our son will lose his kidney was crushing. Neither ‘tumor’ nor ‘malignant’ made the connection for me. Perhaps I just willed that maybe it is thought out of my mind. But then our worst fear blossomed into a horrible reality as the dreaded word ‘cancer’ was heard for our child. Nothing prepares a parent for the utter devastation of such a diagnosis.”

Adil’s father was also shocked, this is what he said after Adil’s diagnosis, “I didn’t have any idea of what journey we were embarking on. The first night was a complete state of shock. I drifted between nightmare and sleep a few times but spent it mostly lying next to my son staring into his perfect face. I was lost.” 

In the later days when his treatment was initiated, the family had to face very low moments mostly.

In the days that followed there were devastating moments like when Adil’s eyes were turning white and when they hastily took him away to the operating room, to do a nephrectomy (removal of his kidney). His mother stood still, completely alone as her son disappeared down the hall and all she could do was absolutely nothing but hope & pray.

Then there were some hopeful moments too when Adil smiled and cheerfully waved at his mother through his hospital bed’s railings after his operation.

SO far Adil has received radiation and ten months of chemo. He has now been in remission for and doing well. Besides the scars from his nephrectomy, the only visible sign of his treatment is his lack of growth. 

His father adds, “I am sure years from now, when we look back at this time, we will be able to thank God, and for now, we are living day to day. We celebrate the good days when our son wakes up feeling well and try to cope up with bad days when he suffers because of his disease. 

So is the life, a mix of lows and high moments.

Let’s pray for the complete recovery of Adil, may he recover soon and able to smile again. Aameen. May his parents be able to smoothly complete his treatment. 

Lots of prayers for Adil and his family. May all the sick children recover soon, and their diseases never come back and may they live normal, healthy life again. Aameen

Note: Names have been changed to protect identity