Warriors and Survivors - 288

Children Cancer Stories by Rukh Yusuf - Blog # 288

I am Rukh Yusuf, Clinical Pharmacist, also specialized in Total Parenteral Nutrition and Bone Marrow Transplant. I have worked in the Pediatric Oncology unit of a public hospital. 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 her, it was difficult even to look at her. Imagine seeing someone for the first time and having the thought, “I wish I had not seen her.”

Sana is a six year old girl with retinoblastoma, a type of eye cancer. I saw her for the first time in an elevator, where she was with her mother on their way to the oncology clinic. I took a deep sigh when I saw her. She had a very large tumor where her left eye should have been. I stopped for a moment, and my heart sank.

Such a small, young child with such a large, frightening tumor. I kept thinking about how painful it must be for her and how heartbreaking it must be for her parents and family to see their little girl go through so much suffering.

A few days later, I met her again during my shift in the ward and had a chat with her while reviewing her chemotherapy. Sana is from a middle class family in Gujrat, Pakistan. She has been receiving treatment for retinoblastoma for the past four months.

Her symptoms began about a year ago, when she developed pain in her left eye, followed by a wound. Her parents consulted an eye doctor, who initially treated her for an eye infection. When things did not improve as expected, she was referred to an oncology center. Unfortunately, after a series of diagnostic tests at the children's hospital, the final diagnosis was retinoblastoma.

Now, Sana is undergoing chemotherapy and receiving medication to manage her pain.

Children with cancer suffer in ways that are not always visible to others. Their pain does not necessarily disappear when a tumor or wound cannot be seen. For Sana, even the thought of having such a large tumor around her eye makes me shudder. I cannot begin to imagine how painful it must be for this young angel or how she manages to cope with so much suffering at such a tender age.

It is painful to imagine how much she has already been through and how different her childhood must be from that of other children her age.

Summoning my courage, I tried to talk to her about her condition and how she was feeling. To my surprise, I found her hopeful. She believed that she would be fine after completing her treatment. Despite the pain she experiences, she still holds on to the hope of recovery.

She told me that sometimes the pain becomes too much to bear. She wants to cry, but even crying makes her face hurt more. Imagine being a child who wants to cry because of the pain but finds that crying itself makes the pain worse. What an unbearable situation for someone so young.

She often needs strong pain medication to keep her pain under control and help her get through the day. Meanwhile, her parents continues to show remarkable courage, doing everything she can to support her daughter's treatment and recovery. Behind Sana's struggle are the parents who must find the strength to keep going, even on the days when the burden feels overwhelming.

Pediatric oncology teaches us many things, but perhaps the most difficult lesson is that children can be asked to endure far more than we could ever imagine. 

Sana's story has stayed with me. Despite everything she is going through, she still has hope. And perhaps that is what we, as healthcare providers and human beings, must learn from children like her: even in the middle of pain and uncertainty, hope can survive.

My prayers are with Sana and every child affected by cancer. May they find relief from their pain, respond well to treatment, and return to the childhood they deserve. May their families find strength during these difficult journeys, and may every child battling cancer have the chance to live a healthy life, free from disease and suffering.

May Sana recover soon, and may cancer never return to her life. Aameen