@ MD Anderson - Part 4 (Volunteers & a BIG supportive family)

Being a patient at MD Anderson turns you & your caregiver into a big family with other patients & their caregivers, doctors, nurses, workers, security, volunteers and more.

This blog is dedicated to every one of them. Thank You for making our journey as delightful as possible despite the pain, homesick, worries of cancer & the rest of the cancer worry list.

 Imagine walking one day into your hospital and seeing it filled with jade green & purple balloons all over! Wouldn't that put a surprise-smile on your tired face? It sure did. We were very happy to see that the whole hospital is celebrating patients & CAREGIVERS! How cool is that? 

Below is a picture for two sweet volunteers that roamed around the hospital with big smile on their faces, giving free turbans and head covers to patients whilst taking their chemo session.

Here are some pictures from the different activities.

Scattered tables with free gifts & cards for survivors and caregivers

 The card baskets for everyone to pick a free card that has been designed by kids and volunteers.

 Free biscuits ( All year round, and not just during the celebration week)

The store selling MD Anderson related merchandise from Tshirts, magnets, notebooks, mugs, and much more

How cool are these volunteers? I wish our youth generation take an hour or more from their busy time to spread a smile to those in need in their own capacity.
Let us put hands together to share the similar experience at different hospitals in our areas. You can make a difference in their tough journey, start now!
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We Love Chemo

There was a time when I feared the word (Cancer). I tried as much as possible not read about it,  not to say it, not to even ask my closest friends or family members about it.
Recklessly thinking that doing so will keep it away from me & all the ones I love & care about.

I was wrong.

The first victim of (Cancer)  has been sweet little (Nadine). My cousin's 14 year old daughter who's pure soul & face never left my father's wallet for as long as I remembered. I grew up hearing her story and loving her so much even though I never saw her as she passed away a few years before I was born.
Her struggle introduced me to this awful disease and ever since, the word (cancer) is linked to the darkest memories.

Life moved on, and so did we. Though, the love we had to those we lost never left our heart. It grew bigger day by day. May god rest their souls in peace.

30 years later, life challenged my family with another (Cancer) story. This time affecting a 19 year old angel that is so dear to my heart.












I have been struggling for 2 weeks to find the right words that can express what I felt , but I found none. So I will keep the blog blank for now and move on to the part where I urge each one of you not be like me!
Read more about Cancer. Ask. Be comfortable about it. Know deep in your heart that everything happens for a reason, no matter how sad or angry you may feel about it, there is always a (hikma) behind it. We may never realize it at the time, but we will eventually.

Chemo sounds like the end of the world for us; It supresses the immune system, kills active cells in our bodies and destroys the hair & nails. However the reality is, it supresses the growth of Cancer & therefore, we should be thankful for chemo & for the brains behind finding the best combinations of it.

Cancer has 4 main stages. Each stage requires a different set of meds. Some Cancers require a set of Radio therapy to shrink the tumors in the early stages. Other Cancers require a combination, while the higher stages cuts it directly to Chemo.
MD Anderson introduces Proton Therapy too. Something I personally never heard about until I saw it Houston. It's the friendlier version of Radio Therapy as they explained. Here is a link about it incase you want to read more about it. http://www.mdanderson.org/patient-and-cancer-information/proton-therapy-center/index.html

Be safe. Be strong. Be thankful