Zainab Bibi
Zainab Bibi's history
"Zainab had a strong reaction to drugs, of an emotional nature: she had become so irritable and aggressive that the nurses, as well as her parents, believed that a spirit had taken over her! She cried constantly and refused to eat. Her mother. she was worried to the point of getting sick, but still bravely asked the doctors to continue preparing for the transplant that could cure her daughter of thalassemia. " -Azra Shaheen, C2C Nurse, Islamabad, Pakistan Zainab is now three years, eight months and five days old and her parents consider every single day of her life as a result.
Nurses at Cure2Children's STOP Thalassemia Care and Prevention Department in Islamabad have noted little Zainab for her innate wisdom - an uncommon description for a three-year-old, but Zainab has been through far more than her peers. her. Already a month and 22 days after her birth, Zainab depended on blood transfusions twice a month for her survival. Zainab's parents, calm and committed people, took her every two weeks to the local transfusion hospital for three years.
Due to the frequency and amount of blood little Zainab received, she was at risk of receiving hepatitis C infected blood. In fact, unfortunately, she contracted this disease. It was at this point that her mother Saima (30 years old), with great spirit of initiative, requested the advice of the STOP Thalassemia department of Cure2Children, which was located right next to the transfusion center. Had Saima been able to work with Cure2Children's nurses to improve little Zainab's health, her daughter might have been eligible for a bone marrow transplant that can cure her of thalassemia. Once recovered, she Zainab would no longer need blood transfusions for the rest of her life. Saima and Dilnawaz (Zainab's father, 34) therefore decided to admit her daughter to the STOP Thalassemia ward of Cure2Children (C2C).
Zainab quickly became healthy enough to be eligible for a bone marrow transplant, and she was lucky enough to have an older brother she could donate. To prepare Zainab for transplant, her C2C nurses gave her high doses of busulfan, a chemotherapy drug that, given before a bone marrow transplant, clears diseased bone marrow.
However, Zainab had a strong emotional reaction to the drugs: she had become so irritable and aggressive that the nurses, as well as her parents, believed that a spirit of her had taken possession of her! She cried constantly and refused to eat.
Her mother was worried to the point of getting sick, but she still bravely asked the doctors to continue preparing for the transplant that could cure her daughter of thalassemia. During the bone marrow transplant, Zainab and her family faced another obstacle: Zainab developed a very high fever and diarrhea, which did not seem to subside.
Zainab stayed in the Cure2Children ward for five weeks after the transplant and, at the end of this period, there were quite a few upsides. Zainab's body now used the new bone marrow as if it were hers. Zainab no longer needed blood transfusions every two weeks. Zainab no longer had thalassemia. Zainab is healed, and her mom is elated.
If Cure2Children's STOP Thalassemia Treatment and Prevention Center had never been established in Islamabad, parents like Zaima and Dilnawaz would still have to bring their sick children for bi-weekly blood transfusions.
Without this Cure2Children's thalassemia STOP ward, little Zainab would have to receive transfusions for the rest of her life, increasing her risk of contracting other blood diseases. However, thanks to the presence of the Cure2Children ward and the bone marrow transplant, Zainab is cured and she will be able to spend the rest of her life as a normal child.