The healing touch beyond borders

It is a fresh lease of life that Rehab Maqsood, a Pakistani citizen, received from the doctors of Bengaluru. Rehab, who was suffering from acute myeloid leukemia, underwent a bone-marrow transplant at HCG Cancer Care.

After enduring severe pain and having a transfusion, the Pakistani patient has finally been cured of the cancer. Rehab, a 23-year-old from Lahore, was giving his final exam as a UG student when he developed the symptoms. When these illnesses got worse, he visited the doctor and after several tests, it was found that he was suffering from cancer. It came as a shock to his family but instead of whining about the illness, the family chose to fight it out and took it in positive stride.

Immediate treatment for the cancer was chemotherapy but the doctors had warned him that it would not suffice and a transplant was a must. Rehab’s sister happened to be the right donor for a bone marrow transplant. Later, Rehab’s parents decided to look for the treatment in various hospitals in Pakistan but after research, they found out that the success rate in the Pakistani hospitals for a bone marrow transplant was comparatively less. Hence, they decided to explore hospitals outside Pakistan. “In the US, the healthcare treatment was expensive. After talking to several doctors and relatives, India seemed like a viable option and HCG had the treatment which fitted our budget,” says Ahmad, Rehab’s father.

Before returning to Pakistan, Rehab spoke to ‘Metrolife’ about his treatment and his stay in the City. “Surprisingly, I was not shocked when I heard of my cancer. I knew something was wrong with my health. Usually when I used to fall ill, I would be okay within a few days. But this time, I was ill for a long time and it was getting worse. I had to cope with my illness and my family stood as a pillar of support,” he said.

After coming to Bengaluru for the treatment, Rehab went through all the tests from scratch and from these, it was found that he was suffering from a lung infection which had to be treated before the transplant. While he was under treatment, his sister, Ghania, who was the donor for Rehab’s bone marrow transplant, was undergoing her set of tests.

   In the month of October, Rehab underwent the transplant successfully and he hoped to return to Pakistan at the earliest. But destiny had different plans — while the transplant was successful, the after-effects of it had left Rehab with certain negative reactions which meant a longer stay in the hospital.

“He would start bleeding even with a slight movement of arms and seeing all this was really hard especially as a mother. To see my son suffer right in front of my eyes was very painful, but I had to stay strong to keep him motivated. Whenever I was down, he would lift me up and when he was feeling low, I would lift him up,” says his mother Shaheena. “India and specifically Bengaluru gave my son a second birth. We are very thankful to the doctors and the people of India for accepting us as one of them,” adds Shaheena. 

After staying in the City for more than four months, Rehab does not find much difference between Bengaluru and Lahore as both are cosmopolitan cities. He feels that the people here are open-minded, warm and accepting. Rehab now he plans to finish his studies which he had to stop in between due to his illness.