Stories of pain and hope… Jordanian Ghada Al-Helou beat cancer with alternative medicine | women’s news

Sana Nasrallah – Kuala Lumpur

We don’t write our destinies, but maybe we can create stories in our lives. In the midst of life and its battles, a difficult visitor may knock on our door that we cannot drive away, but we adapt to his arrival. Life is full of sometimes beautiful twists and turns and sometimes harsh ones.

We have a story of challenge in our hands, the chapters of which were written by a Jordanian doctor, Ghada Al-Helou, who was diagnosed with cancer but was patient, enduring and defiant until God Almighty decreed a cure for her.

Al Jazeera Net caught up with Dr. Ghada at her residence in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, to discuss her story with cancer and how she managed to overcome it.

A story about a challenge
Her story with the disease began at the beginning of the month of Ramadan in the year 1436 Hijri, which corresponds to the year 2015. It was just a small tumor on the left side of the neck. The doctor prescribed simple and then strong antibiotics, but the problem doubled and narrowed the airway. so she was transferred to the hospital.

There it was established that it was a tumor in the lymphatic system, but after taking a biopsy, the type of cancer was not detected, so it was necessary to resort to neck surgery to remove part of the tumor and make a culture. know its type, but hesitated because of the complications of the operation, because it can cause twisting in the mouth.

She says of this stage: “I began my cancer quest to understand my situation, to walk with awareness, so I decided to refuse surgery, giving myself time to choose my path with understanding, awareness and conviction.”

And about how she felt when she received the news of her illness, she says that it was a shocking surprise, “because cancer means, in a narrower, subconscious sense, suffering until death.”

Mental stress
In the beginning, she experienced bitter days between the continuous search for the truth about the disease, until she was tired of surprises, contradictions and misconceptions, and between the psychological pressures of the environment because they did not understand her condition and health. state.

Everyone communicated with her emotionally, primarily out of fear and pity for her. As for the children, they were small and did not understand the truth at first, but “the state of the disease created a hateful barrier between me and them. I could not understand their reaction, but after two years my children became aware and understood the extent of the suffering. They have become a great financial, psychological and emotional help to me.”

This may be one of the rare occasions when a cancer patient talks about her illness and feelings, so we asked detailed questions to learn about her treatment journey and, it seems, the nature of her studies, since she is a Ph.D. in Islamic studies, reflected in her journey with the disease, intensive research and careful research to know what chemical medicine and Natural alternative medicine are, in terms of symptoms, treatment methods and results, and the difference between them.

Stubborn and crazy
He says that after balancing “I chose alternative (natural) medicine and practiced it, because it is an integrated and comprehensive approach that treats all human components intellectual, spiritual, psychological, physical and social, and here I am, thank God, having recovered from the disease , but having recovered from all previous diseases such as stomach ulcer and insufficiency of the “thyroid glands, and I committed myself to guard the trust (my health) that my Lord gave me, at least in relation to my proven beliefs, with a healthy approach.

The disease undoubtedly had a great impact on her mental state, because “the disease exhausted me mentally on a personal level, because the disease is actually what the Holy Qur’an called (damage) because it affects all the components of the body, so a person lives a struggle between weaknesses body and psyche and strength of intention and will.”

Even on a family level, “I was mentally exhausted, because my anti-current stance in choosing physical therapy led to a grueling mental struggle.”

As for the impact of the disease on her role as a mother, she went through times when she felt unable to raise her children, not even emotionally.

And about the most important difficulties to which she was exposed during the period of illness, her opposition to electricity was at the family level, “so they called me stubborn, and on the medical level they called me crazy.”

Regarding the things that increased her confidence to face the disease, she says, “I became sure of the greatness of my Lord, the educator, and my trust in Him increased above all else, so I delved into His names and attributes. , and what affected me most was His name, the Great Samad in all things, so that I learned from my experience not to trust in anyone’s abilities, but only in my Lord.”

She talks about the moments of despair she went through during her illness, and the main reason for that was the influence of her environment.

treatment trip
As for the healing journey, she traveled to a sanatorium in Europe that deals with an alternative (natural) approach and there she learned the approach in theory in all its details and application, and then came back and completed the experience herself.

I followed an alternative (natural) system called (Gerson therapy) after Dr. Gerson who discovered the system, and it is based on two pillars, the first is to raise the percentage of missing elements and vitamins in the body and the second is to expel the amount of toxicity from the body. Her experience lasted four years, and the program was scheduled to be cured after two years.

During the trip for treatment, Dr. Through her personal experience, Ghada wrote a book (currently in press) titled “Cancer Between Truth and Illusion” and made it easy and accessible to everyone.

Her motive for writing was primarily to spread awareness about this disease, because it represents a real experience with the methodology of scientific research that reveals the concept of the disease, its symptoms and causes, and explains the approach to (natural) alternative treatment and its nature through experience and application.

It also explains the difference between (chemo) treatment and (natural) alternative treatment. Research results supported by practical evidence through conducted tests are referenced. At the end of the book, recommendations are given so that the reader can clearly approach dealing with the disease.

And concludes d. Ghada spoke to Al-Jazeera Net, saying: “From the period of illness I learned to trust my choice as long as it is based on knowledge, understanding and conviction, and I rearranged my priorities in the right way, and decided to free myself from everything which causes negativity and chaos in my life to walk the right path that God wanted me to.”