Gaza: Sitting on the Gaza beach Eman Shanoun, a breast cancer survivor, 45, is witnessing the procedures of measuring the biggest awareness ribbon in the world by the Guinness World Records.
Eman said: “It was a normal day like any other. Thirteen years ago I went to the clinic assuming that I might have a small problem in my skin, but the doctor there transferred me to Al Shifa hospital, I felt there might be something and tried to check up myself and remained optimistic but after two weeks later my doctor informed me that I have breast cancer.”
Eman said: “After the doctor mentioned cancer I didn’t hear anything else. I stood speechless and my mind was full of fear and thoughts on one thing, my daughter. The first question I asked the doctor was the cancer hereditary and when he answered ‘not usually’ I felt a little bit of relief.”
“Pain, frustration, fear and hope become daily feelings for me and there were days, especially in the beginning of the treatment, when I thought that my end was near and the only thing that gave me hope were my daughter and son,” Eman added.
With more than 40 per cent unemployment, few people in Gaza can afford the costs of referral and receiving treatment outside the coastal territory.
She added, “Despite my husband getting a good salary from the Palestinian Authority we barely could manage the cost of medical treatment since the drugs and chemical medication were so expensive and I also had to travel a lot to Egypt for treatment.” The hospitals in the Gaza Strip can hardly provide any services or medical treatment to patients who have cancer because of the huge lack of the required equipment and medicines. more
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