Thinking positive: On Cancer Survivor Day, patients celebrate life

Speakers and patients discuss their experiences with the deadly disease at AKUH.

KARACHI: Last year, the speakers at Aga Khan University Hospital's annual Cancer Survivor Day talked about conquering fear. This year, however, they celebrated life.

"I am hopeful that I will get better and go home to my children," said 45-year-old Gulshira Abdullah Mir, who has come to Karachi from Gilgit-Baltistan for treatment. Diagnosed with liver cancer years after her breast cancer was cured, she was attending the event arranged at the Aga Khan Sports and Rehabilitation Complex on Saturday.

The audience was filled with survivors, testifying against the popular belief that cancer patients seldom survive their battle with the disease. Their family and friends, too, were there to celebrate their journey. While oncologists Dr Adnan Jabbar and Dr Yasmin Abdul Rashid hosted the programme, those in attendance also engaged with the stalls set up by the oncology department, with games explaining the disease — something that isn't easily accessible to the patients and general public.



Syed Osama Sami, another cancer survivor, had a lighter take on cancer. Sami, who is a comedian and part of the LOL Waalay improvisation troupe, presented a stand-up piece talking about the attention and special treatment that comes with being a cancer patient.

Talking to The Express Tribune after his performance, he revealed that he was diagnosed with second stage lymphoma in his thesis semester at university and underwent treatment for a year. "I still have a 50 per cent chance of it coming back, though I hope it doesn't," he explained. "You have to consider the best possible scenario and think positive — that's what keeps you going and that's what my stand-up performance was all about."

Another cancer patient still undergoing treatment radiated happiness. Dressed in a red and gold shalwar kameez, with her three children gathered close to her, Kulsoom Zehra said that her secret was simple. "I accepted that I had the disease and made my peace with it," she disclosed. "When I was diagnosed, I spent the first 15 days crying, because all I could think about was who would take care of my children. But then I accepted it — the more accepting you are of change, the better it is."

Kulsoom had a relapse three months after being treated for a lump under her arm and was diagnosed with second stage breast cancer. She has undergone 16 rounds of chemotherapy and 13 out of 24 rounds of radiation therapy. "If I had been diagnosed with the last stage of cancer, God forbid, I would have enjoyed life even more fully."

Cricketer Younis Khan, who lost his mother to cancer and whose sister too suffered from it, praised the courage of the audience, while former cricketer Shoaib Muhammad discussed his own struggle with the disease. Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Ahmed, the new vice-captain of the national cricket team, advised people not to take minor symptoms lightly because they could lead to serious problems such as cancer.

Fashion designer Yousuf Bashir Qureshi, calling the doctors 'angels of mercy', urged people to count life in moments rather than seconds, minutes or years. Ruby Shakil, another designer, discussed the cuts and colours that could help cancer patients remain positive, while TV personality Zubaida Tariq shared home remedies to improve their quality of life.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th,  2015.