A_Threat_of_Life__a_Personal_Narrative

A Threat of Life In the early morning of a sunny day, when the blue sky of Koubba was covered with a gray cloud of toxic gases rising from surrounding factories, my relative Dolla woke up and as usual headed to the kitchen to have breakfast. Dolla was an aged woman about sixty years old with some health problems. On that dusty morning, she picked up the jar of jam and as she was weltering the jam on a piece of bread, she felt a little dizzy and sick. She felt the ground moving and that she was going to fall down any moment. She headed with her sister Leila toward the car and drove to the hospital in Batroun. I had last seen her a few weeks earlier. She looked exhausted and there was just a sad thing about her face, even when she flashed the biggest smile her eyes still looked sad. She thought that these symptoms can be normally felt by anyone at her age suffering from blood pressure problems and troubles in the respiratory tract. By the time she checked in, and has taken a series of medical tests, the results came back. The doctor felt uncomfortable after having checked the horrible results, and couldn’t find a way of explaining her case. The bad news knocked her like a thunderstorm! She was shocked and upset. Leukemia began to break through her body. Her facial expressions reflected misery and despair; she was in a pathetic situation. After she returned home, all she could be able to do is to take her medications, pray and keep her faith high. After a week had passed, her situation had not improved. On the contrary, it kept going through the worst. I mean one can tell from looking at her. She lost a lot of weight, her skin changed color to yellow, she barely has the urge to talk and walk. Again she directly went to the hospital for another checkup. It seemed like the tumor has spread, infecting her whole body. This was a really unpleasant surprise for this family. Due to her severe case, it was urgent to transfer her to an advanced hospital. She was sent by an ambulance car to Saint George hospital located in Ashrafieh, Beirut. A bunch of neighbors were gathered outside, women were crying, men were sad and desperate. They are all worry about this poor women's life. It was really frustrating. After a series of new tests and diagnosis, chemotherapy was necessary. Dolla was locked up in a special room due to her harsh case; doctors were worried of her catching infections and microbes at the time where her immunity system was dropping down. Based on daily chemotherapy session, her hair began to fall down and she was getting nauseous feeling like throwing up. As we all know chemotherapy has many side effects on a patient life due to the chemical injections and treatment that he or she will receive. For several months and her situation is itself, more pain, increasing doses of drugs, same therapeutic treatment, yet no significant progress. It is not easy on a woman with other health issues to carry on everyday not knowing if she could beat cancer for good. Although my relative was isolated from the rest of the world in an antibacterial- antiviral chamber, friends and family members did not hesitate to come to the hospital to check on her even though they weren’t allowed to enter her room. I remember how my parents used to go day after day to Beirut to check on her, to see if Leila wants someone to comfort her, if Dolla was in need of a blood transfer. I couldn’t forget how much her nephew suffered when he was traveling from one Red Cross center to another just to ensure that a healthy blood transfer is available on a daily basis. It was devastating for all of us. Dolla had thought for a moment that is better if she dies so that her beloved can rest. Because of her deteriorating condition, and to the significant drop of her level in lymphocytes and platelets percentage, she was given shots to compensate this deficiency. These shots were expensive, rare, not to mention that they were imported from the western world such as the USA or France. Dolla was not in an enviable stage, for real. With this unforgettable exhausting routine, Dolla had never thought that dying at this very moment is the best solution. She never lost hope in life. She believed in God and destiny, although you can see her struggling day after day to keep on living in this tough world. Her only fault was that her house couldn’t be more nearer to a chemical company in her hometown. Perhaps her only fault was that her government didn’t apply the laws that require on industries, factories and companies to be far away from populated areas. What a pity! One day, Leila told her sister: “Look at the TV, here is the minister of environment demanding to apply the safety regulation, while the health inspectors aren’t punished when they are bribed. Ironic, isn’t it'” This horrible situation is being lived daily by many people rather than this tortured lady due to many factors most probably to polluted and poisoned regions, while our state represented by its president, government, ministers and representatives do not lift a finger! Sad isn’t it' Or maybe we should blame ordinary citizens too for not being friendly toward their surrounding environment. After being forced to spend about six months in a “health care prison”, the long awaited day has finally come. On a sunny day of spring, the doctor entered the room. All the visitors retained a sense of anticipation and optimism, just a sense. But as the doctor opened his mouth and said: “El hamdella, congratulations! You overcame illness”. “You are free to go out back in the real world”. This sense had been transformed to reality. I can remember my mom saying: “Allah Bihebik (God loves you), you were lucky!” Then before packing their things, the doctor interfered: “That’s your fortune, but it is really depressing to see others suffering without a clue.” Eventually, Dolla got back on her feet and after a series of revision sessions she was healthier than ever, plus she restored her full emotional and mental stability, but toxic gases in populated area have never disappeared.