Anthony .. Blood cancer survivor : Pay attention to the signs before it’s too late

Friday is the best day of the week, ply football game with family, eat together, laughing, smiles and joking all the time, what is a happy days .. But why my friend looking at me with amazement?

During this time Anthony found himself looking at his friends intently, and telling him, “Today your face looks more yellow than ever before, and he joked that he did not care, said“ Maybe it means that my face is tanned as a result of sun exposure which made it golden, but his friends  reminded him again that last month he was suffering from shortness of breath more than one time and his body was exhausted .. and they advised him that he should go to see the doctor.

At first Anthony laughed with his colleagues, but soon he understood the matter, wondering his condition, “But what if the matter was serious … and my face really tends to yellow? Then I have to go to the doctor, and indeed he went to the health center with his mother who stands next to him, saying “It must be a short visit that will not exceed thirty minutes,” and Anthony did not know at the time  would not lead him to his home again before three months spent between various laboratory tests and ultrasound examinations and other things, to know that it was not just anemia, to lead his intelligence spirit to search for Google even gets ready to hear the news that he did not expect, which is “having blood cancer”, and my message to everyone is to alert them to their body signs before it is too late.

It is now 2 am, my head is heavy, my body is tired, but I want to take a rest… I rest? … It is a dream, I woke up to the doctor’s sounds talking around me, explaining the diagnosis, discussing the signs and reviewing treatment options. And they said: You are still young, and full of energy, and strength, your body will be able to defeat cancer, you will overcome this condition and regain your health.

After hearing this news, what I read from google, I look around to see all my family standing beside me, my mother, my father … my sister, my uncle, my aunts and my cousins – everyone is there to encourage me.

Anthony began preparing for the first round of the chemotherapy phase, where his hair seemed to fall out, one hair after another. It is a difficult journey, but he has to adapt to it, as each session of chemotherapy takes some time to accept it and gradually adjusts to it, hoping that his hair follicles will grow again to spread hope In his future life and his victory over cancer.

He was feeling nauseous, and the stomach upset gradually increased until it reached the mouth. He became impatient and with weak physical strength, but he endured all these pains in order to return to his normal life again to build his physical muscles and his bright future that he derived from the warmth and tenderness of his family and the embrace of his father ,, this embrace returns his soul and soul .. Any person needs this love, warmth and tenderness to be full of strength and enthusiasm and raise his spirits.

At exactly five o’clock every morning a new story and innovative methods in which everyone around me master to help me get through these difficult times, “It is really difficult times.” At five o’clock every morning, taking a blood sample is the frequent thing that I get used to do every day, to let it slip with the help of Nurse Ibrahim He is my friend, companion, and guide throughout this journey, get ready to eat the “kibbeh” my mom prepared for me, because it is better than the usual hospital food. Then a contest is held with my sister to see who can drink a bottle of water faster than the other, if your goal is to drink 3 liters of water a day that needs a lot of creativity. This is followed by an exciting match with best friends in the FIFA game. It was never defeated. I enjoyed these beautiful things that bring me happiness and help me pass the time with more faith and courage.

During the six successive chemo sessions, it seemed to me that I was stronger, bigger and wiser, this was another chapter in life, and I started to feel better and return to my normal self, I had enough time to think about how to restore my normal life again after everything stopped, life goes on and did not end But it needs more, looking forward to your future, and building lasting long-term relationships with your friends and family; They are the ones who will help you regain your energy and brilliance. It is better to think about your school program and in which direction you will go, you have to think about the sky in which you will fly when you become a pilot, and do not let cancer eat you. Take this time to improve and think.

Oh yeah, it’s time to go to the gym

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The Launch of The First Virtual Online ( CPD) about cancer in Qatar

Qatar Cancer Society (QCS ) jointly with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) organized the first online continuous professional development webinar about the Suspected Lung Cancer Referral Guidelines on a Qatari Digital Platform – MasterBadge MEET, which targeted 200 primary healthcare providers, nurses, and the allied health practitioners from both the governmental and private health sector.

Dr. Hadi  Abu Rasheed – Head of Professional Development and Scientific Research Department  at  Qatar cancer society   said “ This CPD Activity is a Category 1 – Accredited Group Learning Activity as defined by the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners – Accreditation Department and is approved for a maximum of 1.5 hours.

Based on the strategic partnership with the Hamad Medical Corporation and the ongoing support provided by HMC to QCS, the communication team at the Hamad Medical Corporation will promote the activities of the continuous medical education of QCS in the digital platforms and newsletters of HMC to increase the opportunities for HMC’s medical staff to benefit from the QCS’ continuing medical education programs. He added.

Dr Abu Rashid pointed to the charity’s constant eagerness to organize nationally and internationally accredited professional development and continuing medical education programs for healthcare, health education and communication, patient support, and health behavioural research workforce, prepare and distribute cancer statistics updates ,develop strategies to analyse and evaluate the efficiency of Qatar Cancer Society activities , coordinate conducting Cancer health behavioural research in collaboration with health and academic entities and distribute cancer updates for health workforce

Dr. Mohammed Ussama Al Homsi- Senior Consultant in Medical Oncology and Deputy Medical Director of Clinical Education, Research, and Quality at The National Center for Cancer Care and Researchsaid “We are always grateful to work in partnership with QCS  their support enables us to ensure we reach across the healthcare providers in Qatar in the interests of the whole population.

This symposium supports the continuing path to providing excellence in cancer care in the county”.

Best investment is in early detection and prevention as World Health Organization studies showed that between 30–50% of cancers can be prevented by avoiding risk factors and implementing evidence-based prevention strategies and many cancers have a high chance of cure if diagnosed early.he added .

He continued saying  that Qatar National Cancer Program did a survey in May 2016 showed that 68% of health experts in Qatar recommended that future investment should be placed in capacity building of the primary healthcare providers and the community health workforce .

Explaining that National Cancer Program recommended that this could be supported by existing programs, such as those run by the Qatar Cancer Society

Dr. Reyad Mohsen – Senior Consultant in Medical Oncology at The National Center for Cancer Care and Research – Chair of the Thoracic Cancers National Clinical Advisory Group – Ministry of Public Health – said this CPD aims to provide the participants practical knowledge about lung cancers early signs and symptoms to determine when a patient should be referred as a suspected case, the accurate referral and follow up pathways for the suspected lung cancer cases, and the needed initial diagnostic and management approach to be done for suspected lung cancer cases at the level of primary care.

Also, the latest lung cancer statistics globally and locally were presented during the workshop.

He presented during the symposium the latest statistics of lung cancer according to Qatar National Cancer Registry (QNCR) – Ministry of Public Health – 2016 that Lung cancer is the ninth most commonly diagnosed cancer  in Qatar in 2016 and same year Lung cancer is the first causing-death cancer and survival rate from 2013 till 2016 is 24.24%  which means that 24.24% of lung cancer patients stayed alive  from 2013 to 2016.

 

 

 

 

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