PRCS puts the smile back on the faces of chronic diseases and cancer patient families

Douaa’ Abed

Manal Ghobn (42) could not hold back the tears, expressing a deep-rooted sadness that has been a constant companion in her life struggle. It erased her happiness, exacerbated her pain and weighed on her hopes through long nights spent in hospitals, holding her children’s hands and teaching them how to love life despite their suffering. Manal’s four children suffer from thalassemia (also known as Mediterranean anemia).

All four children: Abdul Karim, Manar, Shomouâ and Ahmad – the youngest of whom has not yet completed his 18th month – suffer from thalassemia, a condition where blood hemoglobin drops below its normal levels, forcing patients to undergo frequent blood transfusions, making their lives very difficult.

“My sons need urgent treatment”, Ghobn said. “Their predicament has had a heavy financial and psychological toll on our family. Our economic situation is dire as we can barely earn our daily bread. We cannot, as a family, bear the expenses of their treatment.” She prays that Allah, in his wisdom, will cure them.

She explained that her children’s condition has had a negative impact on the family’s daily life, whether in terms of health or morale, although she is trying to adjust to their disease and provide them with treatment. “I have sick children”, she said. “I live in quasi-total isolation and my children are constantly on my mind.”

She indicated that, at first, she went through a very psychologically difficult phase due to the daily accumulated hassles involved in accompanying her children to hospitals in and outside Gaza. This lasted until she started participating in psychological support sessions for chronic diseases and cancer patients’ families organized by PRCS’s Psychosocial Support Department, which she describes as 'psychologically relieving’. “They make you feel that there is someone else sharing your burden and specialists advising you on how to deal with your sick children,” she said.

“We have invited Mrs. Ghobn to take part in our sessions aimed at such families to help them cope with the suffering,” said Psychosocial Support Department specialist, Radwan Halaween. “She started feeling better about sharing her concerns and problems and began to interact with the training after a long silence.”

Ghobn’s case is similar to that of her fellow participant in psychological discharge sessions, Nawal (42): they both need support to be able to continue living with their children’s sickness. Nawal has seven children and the middle one, Ali, suffers from cancer. He has already undergone surgery and still undergoes chemotherapy.

Nawal described the psychological support sessions as 'useful’. “I was isolated and feeling sad,” she said. “Participating in PRCS’s psychological support sessions taught me patience and how to deal with illness, especially after you hear about the suffering of other participants.”

Nawal expresses her happiness: “when I see the PRCS vehicle waiting to drive me to the session, I feel an overwhelming happiness because someone cares.”

“In PRCS, we focus on the parents of chronic diseases and cancer patients who need as much psycho social support as their children,” Halaween said. He explained that individuals are divided in two groups: the parents and their sick children. Gradually, both groups are mixed together in certain activities to build strong relations and support one another.

Away from hospital ambiances, which they see as part of their psychological plight, Halaween says that it was nice to create a beautiful world for them, even if for one day. “We endeavor to study their needs in order to determine the nature of their problems. Once confidence is built during the sessions, we try to work out the solutions together.”

He stated that groups are usually small to guarantee interaction and to cover all problems in the course of 12 meetings. After that, each case is treated individually. He underlined that PRCS centers in Gaza are dealing with a number of such groups.