| Omar: When she was initially
put on chemotherapy, she lost all her hair. I remember walking
into her room when I was visiting her at the hospital. She
called me over to her and said, “Watch this…” as she pulled
her hair out. She thought it was something cool. I thought
it was a very sad moment. She had also developed mouth sores.
It was so severe that her bottom lip was literally hanging
from all the sores. It was painful and bloody. She would take
a cup full of crushed ice and place her lip in it. That gave
her temporary relief.
The reason why she had stayed for so long
at the hospital every time was because she would develop infections
which would cause her to get fevers. Whenever she was sent
home, we would have to make frequent visits to the doctor
to get her blood checked and an assessment of her overall
condition. Sometimes, they would end up admitting her to the
hospital while other times we would come back home. Again,
the uncertainty is what made it worse.
This went on for about three months until
her first cycle of chemotherapy was completed. In a way, everything
happened so fast. It was already time for her first major
surgery. It was a limb salvage surgery where they removed
the tumor from her leg and inserted an artificial bone with
a mechanical knee. Her surgeon told us it was quite a risky
surgery considering the size of her tumor. In fact, he told
us that he'd never dealt with a massive tumor like hers. Coming
from a renowned orthopedic surgeon, this really frightened
us.
Al-istiqamah: What
was the attitude of the doctors when dealing with such a young
patient?
Omar: Visiting the surgeon’s
office never was pleasant. The surgeon would walk in with
a straight look and a stern voice. He never gave us any promising
news. We’d always walk out of his office depressed. Asma would
be there at all times. She knew everything that was going
on.
Al-istiqamah: Could
you give our readers an account of the day she had the surgery
done?
Omar: I remember it as
if it happened yesterday. We had to be at the hospital by
6am. My parents and I had woken up around 3:30am. After we
got ready, we tried to wake Asma up. Although she was up,
she had her eyes closed and wouldn’t move. We could tell she
was nervous and scared. The thing that made it hard was that
the doctor had told us (including Asma) that there is a big
chance he may end up amputating the whole leg since it was
quite risky. This would be a decision made during the surgery.
The uncertainty was killing us once again…
Finally we got her up and left home. It
was a cold, dark morning. We were one of the first ones at
the hospital. No one was around except for doctors and nurses.
Pretty soon it was time for us to let her go. She was crying
so much as she didn’t want to leave my parents. The nurses
and doctors finally took her.
We were given a private room in the waiting
area. All I remember doing was constantly making dua’a to
Allah. It was probably one of the scariest things I had gone
through at the time. In fact, that was the point in my life
where I came into the deen and started practicing.
Al-istiqamah: Why
at that particular time?
Omar: It was then that
I realized how much I depend on Allah and it is He who can
make things possible. I remember asking myself, “Why am I
making dua’a to Allah? Why would Allah listen to me when I
don’t listen to Him?” That was the turning point in my life.
Alhamdulillah.
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