Ashamed to face the world
37-year-old with tumour on her face appeals for aid to seek treatment.
SARGODHA:
Bhera resident Zahra Bibi has appealed to the district government for funds to treat a tumour on her face.
According to DHQ attending Dr Faiz Sial, Zahra approached them nearly six years ago when a small pimple on her face spread and was causing her severe headaches.
“We discovered that she had a tumour but it was hard to treat as it was an external tumour and we deferred her to a hospital in Lahore,” Dr Sial said, adding that Zahra had undergone surgery at different district hospitals four times.
Zahra has appealed to the government and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for assistance and her family says that she can no longer eat or speak properly. “She stopped speaking nearly two years ago and usually writes when she wants to tell us she is in pain or she uses hand gestures,” her daughter Naseem told reporters, adding that her mother also could no longer eat due to the pain caused by the tumour.
Zahra told reporters that she felt she could no longer face people and was extremely self conscious about her scars and the tumour. Zahra is 37 years old and doctors said that she should not undergo another surgery in a district hospital. “They have been robbing her off her money. No district hospital has the expertise to deal with such a tumour which is why we referred her to hospitals in Lahore,” Dr Sial said.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2010.
Bhera resident Zahra Bibi has appealed to the district government for funds to treat a tumour on her face.
According to DHQ attending Dr Faiz Sial, Zahra approached them nearly six years ago when a small pimple on her face spread and was causing her severe headaches.
“We discovered that she had a tumour but it was hard to treat as it was an external tumour and we deferred her to a hospital in Lahore,” Dr Sial said, adding that Zahra had undergone surgery at different district hospitals four times.
Zahra has appealed to the government and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for assistance and her family says that she can no longer eat or speak properly. “She stopped speaking nearly two years ago and usually writes when she wants to tell us she is in pain or she uses hand gestures,” her daughter Naseem told reporters, adding that her mother also could no longer eat due to the pain caused by the tumour.
Zahra told reporters that she felt she could no longer face people and was extremely self conscious about her scars and the tumour. Zahra is 37 years old and doctors said that she should not undergo another surgery in a district hospital. “They have been robbing her off her money. No district hospital has the expertise to deal with such a tumour which is why we referred her to hospitals in Lahore,” Dr Sial said.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2010.