(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) By Shahad Kamal
KUWAIT, May 23 (KUNA) -- Strong belief in God, hope, and optimism are the weapon to defeat cancer, two young ladies afflicted with leukemia (blood cancer), Saudi Sharifa Al-Haqbani (12) and Kuwaiti Shouq Al-Juwaihel (18), said.
They agreed that it was a hard blow when each knew she had the malignant disease, which they considered "death," but with support from their doctors, families and friends, their view of the disease, and life, utterly changed.
Al-Haqbani, dubbed ambassador of cancer fighters in Saudi Arabia, said she soon came to think of having cancer a "start of new life.
"I soon began to cope with life as a cancer patient," she told KUNA.
Earlier to this, she was a child among millions, but later she launched an account on social media and came to have so many friends. Even she began offering people advice on how "to survive with cancer." Al-Haqbani highly appreciated psychological support by her family, friends, social workers and doctors at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH & RC) that she did not give in.
Thanks to Al-Haqbani's willpower and determination, the young girl managed to stand firm and steadfast in the face of the disease. She did not give in to pain and suffering, but altered them into positive power.
Al-Juwaihel, who defeated the disease, recalled to KUNA the moment she knew she had cancer.
"I almost saw death," she said.
But the tears in the eyes of her family members, seemed to create determination to face it.
She had her worst hours when she received chemicals treatment, and lost her hair but she "endured paid and had determination to survive." The young lady's mother, Lolwa Al-Hasawi, said that her daughter was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, and was cured two years later "thanks to God, then her will and proper treatment by doctors in Kuwait." At first, doctors only thought she just had anemia but after tests at the Amiri Hospital, she was found to suffer leukemia.
Mohammad Al-Haqbani, said that his daughter Sharifa had been diagnosed with cancer almost two years and a half before. She is still receiving treatment at the KFSH & RC.
She was once felt hopeless, especially when she lost her hair, and the father and her brothers had their hair cut to give her some encouragement, and it had a positive effect.
Sharifa is visiting Kuwait upon invitation by the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sheikh Thamer Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who had earlier received her at the embassy in embassy.
Sheikh Thamer then offered the young "ambassador" a souvenir placard.
During Sharifa's five-day visit, she will meet with many children who are suffering cancer, and will seek to give them support and encouragement to defeat the disease. (end) shd.msa