A miracle?

No, it's Allah's grace...

Imagine being diagnosed with a rare type of cancer (malt lymphoma - which is NOT the usual lymphoma that has good records of recovery) at Stage 4 (1 being the beginning, and 4 the extreme, but 'advanced', like my late husband, being ... the ultimate I guess). How they determine the stage is according to the amount of area the cancer cells have spread to (doctors can correct me if I'm wrong here). My sis was at Stage 4 because it had gone into the blood, and also into the bone marrow. After approximately 5-6 months of treatment; ie. 6 cycles of chemo, bottles of Xanco (mangosteen skin juice), gallons of zam zam water (thanks to friends and relatives) which has been read with quranic verses by a Hafeez, Vitamin B17 in the form of apricot kernels, Cactus juice, RO water, habbatussauda' (black seed) and perhaps numerous more variations of medication or supplication, results of the tests indicate that she is actually free for cancer for now.

Physically, my sister is a petite woman with a clean and pure heart. Perhaps she has typical characteristics of a first child: picky with food and not extremely adventurous with it either. It is indeed a big turndown for Kak Long to be told that sugar activates the cancer cells when Kak Long is a sweet tooth!! So this darling sister of mine had to shield off and sacrifice so many items on the foodlist (of course the hospital dietician's list only specified raw food/fruit/vegetables, and food that has been exposed to the open air as things to avoid). I don't recall which specific expert's advice we followed, but I think MANY people advised her to stop eating: meat, dairy products, sugar (carbohydrates included of course), and salt, among others.

It created a lot of commotion, in actual fact. Many fussed, argued and debated over what should and should not be eaten. She got lectures from people who, undoubtedly, meant well. For me it was simple. If my sister could avoid the food, then by all means she should. But if she craved for them or couldn't consume anything else (since she had always been a wee bit picky), then just let her have whatever is halal and edible for her. Most importantly, she needed the energy to recover and regain her strength, especially prior to a chemo session she had to undergo. Everything else is and was in Allah's hands. Whatever medication she took would only heal with Allah's permission.

The total surrender to the Almighty especially in situations such as this is essential. I believe that going back to basics and what Rasulullah practised and used, is vital. The Holy Quran has many advantages and blessings; reading it (every letter, every word, verse, surah) correctly, understanding the meaning and of course the ultimate of all ultimates is applying the content to our daily lives!

Now that we're given a second chance, it'll only go to waste if we don't grab the opportunity... He loves us, doesn't He? :)

ps: I gave Kak Long every single quranic verse my late husband read during his last 3-4 months (even before being diagnosed with cancer). Raden Galoh has put up all the verses and chapters of the Quran that has been recommended to her on her blog, which a dear silent reader has compiled on pdf format. If anyone is interested in the pdf format(I have distributed to friends and family already), do leave your email address in the comment section.