17/01/2025
Imagine going about your daily life. One day, you step on the scale and notice you've lost 5 kilograms in just two weeks.
Amazing, right?
After all, you've been trying to shed some weight for ages, and now it seems like the effects of that diet you abandoned two months ago are finally kicking in.
Lucky, isn’t it?
Who wouldn’t want to look slimmer without even trying? For a while, you bask in the glow of this unexpected "win."
But then things start to shift.
You feel tired all the time. Climbing just two flights of stairs leaves you breathless, even though you used to dash up four without breaking a sweat.
Then comes a nagging pain in your abdomen. Gas, maybe? You brush it off.
Until you notice blood in your stool.
Could it be piles? You tell yourself it’s nothing serious, but deep down, a small voice whispers that something doesn’t feel right.
You decide to see a doctor, just to be sure.
After all, what are the odds of getting a bad diagnosis at 28?
You’re young, healthy... invincible.
The doctor orders some tests—routine stuff: blood work, stool, urine. You go through the motions, expecting nothing more than a pat on the back and maybe some pills for digestion.
But the blood work raises some red flags.
A colonoscopy is scheduled. They find something. A biopsy is taken. You try to stay calm as the days crawl by, waiting for results.
And then, the hammer falls.
Stage 4 colorectal adenocarcinoma.
You hear the words, but they don’t register at first. Stage 4. It’s advanced. It’s aggressive. The first symptoms started just 5 weeks ago. And it’s likely to take your life.
This isn’t just a story I made up.
This was the reality of a 28-year-old patient I met during my time in the oncology department getting his chemotherapy.
He was just living his life, going through the motions like all of us, until a diagnosis flipped his world upside down.
And here’s the hard part: he wasn’t the only one.
There were so many others. Many of the stories that began just like this.
*END*
—---- When I was writing this post, I didn’t know how to end it. Maybe a reflective note? Maybe just leave it as it is?
I still don’t know if the words can describe what my thoughts can't
Take a moment to be grateful. Thank Allah for the health you have, for the days you wake up strong, and for the ability to go through life’s motions without pain or struggle. It’s a blessing we often overlook, but one we should never take for granted.
-17 Jan 25
