“If the lump hasn't gone away after the 3-day course of medication has been completed, go and look for an oncologist immediately, ma'am." That's what the doctor who examined my child told me. My heart sank with a sense of foreboding that the medication would not work. My mind immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario.
A series of tests immediately began; From one room to another and one machine to another. The hospital corridors were long and cold as time crept by, and I waited outside while my daughter was in these examination rooms, one after another.
I cried silently while putting wet tissue on my eyelids to stop tears from escaping; I didn’t want my child to know how hurt and scared I was. I knew I must remain strong even though it felt like I was waiting for the verdict of a death sentence for my daughter.
The time came, and I joined the queue over at the oncologist department, where I met many people with similar fates as my daughter. We sat down and shared stories; it gave us a moment of support.
Like my daughter, they too had finished a prescription medicine as recommended by their doctor, but the lumps on their necks were growing.
"This one is glandular tuberculosis, ma'am. But the other one might need further investigation.”
"If it's not glandular tuberculosis, what is the diagnosis for the other lump, doctor?" I asked.
"It could be lymph nodes...or some other type that can only be diagnosed by biopsy."
When we were outside the doctor’s office, I said to my daughter.
"I don't want you to be like them. I already know that the medicine given by this doctor can't cure them, and some have even taken the prescribed medicine nine times with no improvement.” The side effects of the medicine include a deterioration of eyesight and hearing. "Tomorrow morning, we will go to another clinic."
I contacted a cancer research clinic where I used to provide assistance for cancer patients who couldn't afford cancer treatment. After the Morning Prayer, we departed to the clinic.
At home, I cried loudly in the bathroom while showering and playing loud music. I just hoped that my daughter would not hear and my eyes wouldn't be puffy from crying,
I sat for hours on top of the house, looking at the street with my mind completely blanked out. Why is it my child who got cancer? I have been helping so many people with cancer, so why does my own child have to have cancer? The misery, the grief, the sadness is something I cannot even describe nor share with my closest buddy- My husband.
I know she could not take it too, so I chose to remain silent and be strong for her as I didn't want her to panic or be sad. My daughter began ECCT and she use it while studying and going about your daily life to maximize the hours you are using the ECCT device. Let the world know that there are other solutions for cancer besides drugs and chemo." said the friend from cancer research clinic.
I know it was not easy for her, she had to answer people's questions about what she was wearing around her neck, but she got on with it and managed to maximize her usage of the ECCT device.
We continue to do regular check-ups at the clinic, which encourages continual follow-ups with the doctor to ensure everything remains in control.
Although I didn’t have the courage for these follow-ups, I was fearful that I might see that the cancer was still there. In all my time accompanying cancer patients, I became well aware that it’s extremely rare to get rid of all the cancer cells in your body. But I braced myself, and we went for the check-up.
To our astonishment, the doctor said she was cleared of cancer, and no cancerous tumor was detected in her body. The doctor told us it is extremely unusual for the cancer cells to disappear this quickly.
I finally realized that sometimes God puts his grace in arduous places. Sometimes God hides his grace behind a screen unseen and unknown by anyone. Sometimes God provides sustenance and will provide the solution to a dire situation.
God deliberately sent cancer to my daughter so that I can be 101% confident that the ECCT cancer therapy that we have given to other cancer patients is truly extraordinary.
She managed to recover without having to take drugs with adverse side effects. I have been enlightened, and now I have so much more patience in dealing with the various patient behaviors in my work.
Now I know how lucky I am. Healing is a process, not an event. I am a mother of a remarkable teenager, not a mother of a child with cancer.
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