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When we first open our eyes to this world
And we move on with our dreams in hopes of making them come true
And when we build, and seek, and strive towards them
And we begin to face obstacles while life carries on
And we begin to believe that all hopes
that life itself has come to an end
When she was 21 years old
she began to face a shortness of breath
and began to feel odd symptoms taking place in her body
She lived in a psychological warfare, overwhelmed with confusion and pain
until Yasmeen discovered that she had a disease..and so the journey began
In 2011, I was diagnosed with Lymphoblastic Lymphoma
a type of Cancer that affects our Lymph nodes
In the beginning, I faced a difficulty in breathing, and I noticed
inflammation right here , and I had a minor yet constant cough
As soon as I was diagnosed in the hospital, my family and I had to decide
on where I was to receive treatment abroad
My doctor gave me several options, and we opted for either Jordan or the USA
We heard back from the hospital in the USA first, and so with God’s blessing we made our way to the Texas.
“The Treatment Journey”
We got the USA almost clueless of what was yet to come
but thankfully things got cleared out in no time
MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas
is a specialized Cancer hospital and a major research centre for all types
Each floor in the hospital was designated to a certain type of Cancer
The medical staff, volunteers, and every worker at the hospital
were some of the kindest people I’ve ever come across.
They’re constantly smiling, and are always there to help whenever we needed it
The hospital is home to a large number of volunteers of all ages
making rounds with food carts to serve us complimentary coffee, tea, and snacks
and they’d come around to us while I was taking my chemo to chat and make me laugh
They’d go around with magazines to read
and self-knitted hats for us patients with a motivational message
In the very beginning
everything we know to be true changes
our souls are shaken, our hearts begin to cry
looking for answers, seeking comfort
“The start of treatment”
Definitely, the starting point of any journey is the toughest.
Initially, the hospital referred me to an Italian Lymphoma doctor
who in turn ran some more tests until he decided to refer me to a Leukemia specialist
I found it odd that I never felt comfortable with my first doctor
but felt a sense of relief when I finally met the second one
Everyone in the hospital had already spoken so well of her
she was an American doctor and researcher as well
When I first met her, she gave me two options of treatment:
either receive my treatment at the hospital and be an in-patient
or get treatment and stay at home as an out-patient
When I asked what she recommended, she suggested I opt for being an out-patient
as my treatment was going to be aggressive
and my immunity was going to drop drastically
so it was better to avoid catching an infection from the hospital.
"The Six Month of Treatment”
Stage 1 of the treatment was the most important
and was going to ultimately decided whether or not I was fit enough
to continue with the rest of the treatment
The first day of Chemo was the first day of Ramadhan
I felt a sense of relief to begin with the start of the Holy Month
I had no idea what was yet to come, but I held a strong belief in that God would guide me.
When God promises to be there when you need him the most
do you think he would let you down?!
I got my results of the first stage on the first day of Eid
my family of course were worried but I was confident
that the result would be positive and so it was
and I was pleased that I had passed the initial stage of treatment
The second stage up until the fifth were the toughest I had faced
I had a lot of side-effects, my hair began to fall off
but that never brought me down and never stopped me from going out
My finger tips faced the hardest side-effect, I felt constant pinching
that would only be temporary treated if I placed my hands and feet in very cold water.
I would always get a strong headache
I’d feel nauseous, and sometimes unable to get out of bed
The Chemo affected my blood and immune system
an average person’s immunity is 4 and mine would reach 0
It also affected my platelets
an average person’s platelet count is 145 and mine reached 4
My hemoglobin would go down to 6 when an average girl would have 12
and I’d sometimes need to receive two full bags of blood
There’s a one-week long break between every stage of treatment
but my blood level would decrease so much
that I had to take a month’s worth of break in between.
“Living Abroad”
I love my country Bahrain, and I’ve always felt uneasy whenever I’d travel abroad
But thankfully, the people I met there whether they were nurses, doctors, volunteers
or even the people of Houston themselves
were so kind that they made me feel like I was back home
We even met many people from the Gulf region where we come from who were also there fot treatment
and we supported each other and became each other’s source of comfort.
Most of the time abroad, it was only myself, my mother, and my cousin living together
and no matter how scared we were for ourselves we got through it together.
The final stage: Prevention
The hospital allowed me to take the final stage of treatment back home in Bahrain
We traveled back in Ramadhan of 2012
I tried to continue with my courses at university during my treatment
and I thankfully was able to graduate on time with the rest of my class
Isn’t it amazing, how with the grace of God
when all doors shut in our way, God’s door of mercy is always left open…
During treatment, I witnessed a lot of God’s grace that made everything around us fall into place
My sister had recently got married just before I was diagnosed
and since my parents were both with me abroad during most of my treatment
my sister’s husband stepped in to take my father’s place at home to look after my younger siblings
Back in college, I would always take on a full course and take up summer subjects as well
even though I had the option to go at a slower pace I was always in a hurry
and it all made sense when I had to skip a whole year of university for treatment
but was able to catch up at the end and graduate with my class.
Loyalty and dedication at work have nothing to do with a person’s religion or belief
My doctor looked after me very well, I felt like her very own daughter
One night, while I had been at the hospital for hours getting medicated
around 4 am the nurse came in with a different kind of medicine.
When I asked who had ordered it, she said the doctor had just called to inform them
and I was surprised that she was wide awake
still looking after me and her other patients from home
Until this very day, I communicate with her about my latest test results and health updates
and if I ever take a while in getting back to her, she tells me off and asks me to always keep in touch.
No matter what the circumstances are..
our faith in God proves to be our only hope..
From the very start, as soon as I had reached the Houston airport
I set a goal for myself to go back to Bahrain as soon as I could
That’s why I took every obstacle I faced as a step closer to going back home
During my course of treatment, I was never afraid of my results
I was always optimistic about them
I always had a feeling that I was going to pull through
I keep telling everyone I come across that I learned
more and gained more from my experience than I had lost
I know in my heart that God brings challenges to those he loves
and that motivated me to maintain my prayers 5 times a day throughout my treatment
Regardless of how hard my disease was
I knew there was always someone else going through worse
and that kept me going to never give up
We all need to count our blessings and acknowledge the ones we take for granted
like our health, our family, loved ones, and the home we live in.
We all need to count our blessings and acknowledge the ones we take for granted
like our health, our family, loved ones, and the home we live in
Regardless of how difficult times were and how deep her pain
Yasmeen never gave up
and the beauty of her spirit was never replaced with sorrow
and she never allowed sadness to bring her down
She is the perfect example of a faithful person
the girl with the unique bright smile
strong when overcome with pain; She is the symbol of
patience and hope
And at the very end, only people with hearts as Yasmeen’s
can overcome hardships with patience, acceptance, and a hopeful smile.
Many Thanks To :
Pakiza, Salman Alhassan and Muneera Burashid
Directed by:
Marwan Almarzouqi and Abdulla Faqihi
Produced by:
Believe To Achieve