On January 26th, 2012 our daughter Zaynab was diagnosed with Leukemia. Although we were initially shocked, we realized that we were not alone. So many friends and family immediately stepped up and are supporting us in so many different ways. We feel truly blessed. In light of how blessed we are we wanted to accomplish a few things with this blog. One is to keep everyone informed of Zaynab's recovery. A second is to help those who are less fortunate.

As we thought about what charities to support we thought of a few and couldnt decide on one, so we thought we would give people a choice.

1) Something as simple as water for those who are less fortunate. No one in this world should be without water. Nancy helped setup this initiative here: http://bit.ly/xfXbRS and we have a goal of $20,000 which will provide over 1000 people with water.

2) What a wonderful world this would be if we were able to wipe cancers like Leukemia / Lymphoma from the face of the world. Nancy has mobilized a team to participate in the Light the Night walk on October 20th 2012 and we have a goal of $50,000! To donate to LLS and join the effort go here: http://bit.ly/yZwbt7

3) Who better to receive support than orphans. GiveLight has been great organization for supporting orphans worldwide. While we have no goal set, we recognize that it does not take very much money to save a child: http://bit.ly/xKpWv2


Thanks for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Thanks,
Zaynab and Family

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Back to Chemo

Salamu Alaikum

It has been a crazy couple of weeks!  Alhamdulilah mostly good.  After coming home from the hospital, Zaynab spent time recovering and was doing well.  Her blood counts recovered and she was almost ready to start the next phase of chemo.

However, about 10 days ago, she got a lump under her chin that had us all scared.  We were worried that it was cancerous since it looked to be in the lymph nodes.  Alhamdulilah, after they biopsied it, they determined that it was an infection and they treated it with antibiotics.  Since then it has all but disappeared.

This last Thursday, Zaynab had a planned surgery to insert a "port" into her chest.  A port is a central catheter that is inserted under skin (in the chest) that is accessed when they need to administer chemo.  Prior to the port they were using a PICC line in her arm.  Zaynab opted to get the port since it will allow her to shower without having to cover and tape the PICC line.  She is also hoping to go swimming this summer if she can!

After getting the port, she started her next phase of chemo on Saturday.  This phase is called Interim Maintenance 1and lasts for two months.  The tough thing about this phase is every two weeks she has to be admitted into the hospital to take a high dose of Methotrexate.  They keep her in the hospital for about 4 days to make sure that the medicine has cleared out of her body.

One nice thing about starting Interim Maintenance is that she will be about halfway through the intense part of treatment and two years from the end of her treatment God willing.  Basically the doctors start counting the two years only when you start Interim Maintenance.  All the delays after this point do not affect the duration of the treatment.

Thats all for now!

Salam
Eyman
Posted by at

5 comments:

  1. HanaJune 11, 2012 at 9:32 AM

    In Allaha m3a Assabireeen
    Two years sounds like a lot, but look it's already mid-June! It will fly by inshalah fast.
    You know Zaynab, playing word games and board games (I love Scrabble) is not only fun but exercises your already smart brain so you don't get what they call "chemo brain"- forgetfulness like your Khaltu Hana :)
    Oh and crossword puzzles are great too, when you feel like it.
    How is the guitar playing going? That also is said to work the parts of our brain that may get "lazy" during chemo so keep at it.

    Love always,
    Khaltu Hana, Ammu Louai, Sarah and Layla
    Can't wait for October for Light the Night!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. HanaJune 11, 2012 at 9:41 AM

    Oh, ps- the chest port will be your best friend for a while. Soooo convenient! And when you're done with treatment inshallah, they can keep it in for a while so they can draw your blood from there too so you don't get poked every time you go in.

    ReplyDelete
  3. IsraaJune 16, 2012 at 3:05 PM

    Salamu aleikom,

    It's really good to hear some progress and as Hana just wrote, 2 years will pass like a glimpse..it will all be memories isA..May Allah make it easy on you Zaynab..I will be waiting for the appropriate time to visit you, hopefully soon!
    Take care my dear..
    Israa

    ReplyDelete
  4. mujahidJune 21, 2012 at 6:10 AM

    May Allah make it easy on you Zaynab, stay strong and inshAllah in two years all this would be remembered as an anecdote of inspiration and your strength. I pray for your recovery and hopefully I will get to talk to all of you soon.

    TakeCare,
    Mujahid

    ReplyDelete
  5. Maimana ElJune 24, 2012 at 7:03 PM

    Alhamdulilah for the news. I hope and pray that the road to recovery only gets better from now onwards. Allah will protect and help you zaynab, and you are stronger in spirit because of it. I pray you receive a full recovery, and that you carry on with all the exciting things you wish to do! :)
    Like swimming! You've always been active, as I recall, and Insha Allah you'll be able to indulge in more and more activities soon enough.

    My regards to you and the family there.

    Takecare and God bless,
    Maimana ElTilib, and family. x

    ReplyDelete

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