Positivity, hope effective weapons to fight cancer — survivors

AMMAN — “It is not cancer that kills, it is the lack of hope and the refusal to take medication that does,” cancer survivor Mohammad Qudah said, describing his experience with the disease.

Qudah was diagnosed with pelvic cancer when he was in fifth grade, but his love for life and persistence to beat the disease helped him pass the “very difficult test”.

Although his doctor warned him he might not be able to walk properly, he underwent physiotherapy sessions and trained to become a boxer.

“I won the silver medal in a national boxing competition,” he said at the King Hussein Cancer Centre’s (KHCC) fourth session for cancer survivors on Thursday.

Qudah is now in his third year at university studying sports rehabilitation and encourages cancer patients “not to give ear to negative talk”.

Also diagnosed with cancer at a young age, Hama Biqaeen had a somewhat different experience.

Looking back at the time when she was diagnosed with lymphoma at the age of 11, Biqaeen remembers herself as a child who feared doctors and hospitals, which made it hard for her to accept that she needed to undergo medical treatment.

But shortly after her first chemotherapy session at KHCC, the “kindness and positivity” of doctors and nurses helped her overcome that fear.

“My family and friends supported me a lot... Also my school treated me normally and did not let me shirk my responsibilities as a student,” Biqaeen told the audience of doctors, media representatives and cancer patients as well as their families.

She is currently a fifth year medical student planning to specialise in paediatric oncology in order to help children overcome cancer, as her doctors had a “very positive impact” on her journey with the disease.

Biqaeen noted that her experience with the disease helped her be more considerate of the psychological side of the patients she deals with during her practical training as a medical student.

“If I had the choice of reliving my past I would not change my experience with cancer because it made me patient and taught me to appreciate life in all its details,” she said.

But for cancer survivor Nadia Khatib, deciding to undergo treatment was the bravest decision she had ever taken.

“The support of my husband, my mother, friends and neighbours made all the difference,” Khatib said, recalling the day when she was told she had the disease. 

“It took me a while to comprehend it. I sat alone for hours, thinking about my life and the lives of my children... then I decided to fight the battle no matter how painful it would be.”

After becoming cancer free, Khatib took it upon herself to educate others about the disease by participating in several social initiatives, and was awarded for her achievements. 

“Positivity and hope form 90 per cent of the cure for cancer,” she concluded. 

Qamar Siyaj, whose eight-year-old daughter was diagnosed with optic nerve cancer three years ago, agreed with Khatib.

“The disease caused Dania’s sight to weaken,” Siyaj said, adding that she and her husband tried to make their daughter feel normal by simple actions such as replacing clocks around the house with bigger ones that she could see.

“Some equate cancer with death… and some advised me to have another child to replace Dania,” she said, but parents should embrace their sick children and treat them with tenderness “because they go through a very difficult phase”.

Siyaj highlighted the need to make children with cancer feel normal and to cater to their need to play, especially when their immunity is low, adding that Dania’s experience with cancer made her a “more patient and positive child” who helps other children with visual impairment at her school. 

Thursday’s KHCC session was part of the “Stories of Life and Hope” series, which aims to depict real life experiences of people who fought cancer to give hope to cancer patients and their families.