“The doctor was still talking to me, but I was not listening. I was thinking of how my husband and I were going to afford the expensive treatment.”
When Saba was three she was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in her eye. Her mother noticed a glassy reflection in her eye one night while she was telling her daughter a bedtime story.
“When I heard the word ‘cancer’, I felt as if the world had stopped.” Saba’s mother remembers the day her daughter was diagnosed. “The doctor was still talking to me, but I was not listening. I was thinking of how my husband and I were going to afford the expensive treatment. I’m a housewife and my husband earns a minimal salary as an electrician.” Her parents took Saba to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital where they were able to get financial support for the treatment.
Saba’s oncologist was Dr. Alia Zaidi. She planned to reduce the tumour behind Saba’s eye using chemotherapy and then perform surgery to remove the eye. Unfortunately, Saba would only be able to see through one eye. “This did not get us down,” says her mother. “Saving our daughter was our first priority.” The surgery was successful and Saba was given an artificial eye. Fortunately, she has been cancer-free since then.
“Today, Saba is nearly 7 years old,” says her mother. “At home, she loves playing with her sisters and dolls. She goes to school and is one of the top students in her class. She tells me that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up.”
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