Help my sister Saima: Journey to beat Cancer

Hello, my name is Sadia, I am raising funds for my elder sister Saima [39 years old] who was diagnosed with 3rd stage ovarian cancer last month.

She is going through her cancer treatment in Dhaka, Bangladesh which is very expensive. We do not have any free health care in our country, nor do we have health insurance, we have to pay for each and every stage from assessment, scan, doctor’s consultation, medicine, hospital accommodation etc.

We started her treatment on the 21st of October 2023 and she has so far gone through 1 full Chemotherapy in two rounds and we are almost out of our savings. Every time the bills come, we are worried if we can continue her treatment or not.

Saima used to work in the government. bank in Bangladesh. She bought a flat two years before which she shares with our younger sister Dipty ( age 23 ) and our mother.

Since purchasing the property she has to spend more than half of her salary for the monthly repayments and with the rising living costs hitting everyone in Bangladesh, , she couldn’t keep any savings .

A little background of our family:

We are four siblings.

I am the 2nd eldest, my name is Sadia. I have recently completed my fully funded master's scholarship degree at the University of Glasgow in the UK.

Our younger brother Zahid is currently in his second year of a fully funded PhD scholarship in the state of Kentucky in the USA.

Our youngest sister Dipty is an undergrad student in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She and my mother live with Saima in her flat and this is our only home now. Saima is currently the only earning family member back in my home.

Saima is the eldest sibling, ( for whom we are fundraising ) she has remained single and never married due to the family responsibility she always had. Our father suffered a heart attack back in 2008 and was unable to continue working, he eventually passed away from his heart condition in 2016. Since our father passed away, Saima was the one who took on the financial burden.

Saima began working at a government bank in Dhaka, back in 2011 and has continued to work for the same bank until the start of her illness in mid October. To gain employment within a government banking role in Bangladesh was not easy. Having such a highly competitive job, in a male dominated society took lots of courage for my sister, being a girl from a middle-class family in Bangladesh.

Saima has been directly responsible for the education costs of all her siblings, we have all gone through hard times since my father was taken ill, but my big sister much more so.

When I got the scholarship to do my MA at the University of Glasgow, UK in 2020 she was the happiest one. The next year my brother secured his PhD scholarship in the state of Kentucky, USA and we started to dream about better times ahead after years of hardship.

Our success stories are based on my sisters silent sacrifice. She once told me : “When all my colleagues tell me about their children, I tell them about my siblings with pride”. Since our father's passing, Saima has been like a parent, she gave a roof over our heads, and always thinks about our lives and our careers before her own. When it's our time to give her a portion of comfort and happiness back and say “Sister, you should look for your partner now and start your life” we find ourselves facing this medical emergency.

The cancer diagnosis:

In mid-October 2023, Saima had a very bad cold and cough and developed a swelling of her abdomen and legs. She has admitted to me having not taken her symptoms seriously before, not because of her ignorance, but rather the fear of medical expenses.

On the 29th of October, she was diagnosed with third stage cancer in her ovaries, which has spread locally.

Other health conditions were found during her diagnosis including lower haemoglobin, peptic ulcer and hyperthyroidism, these have made her case more complex.

The doctors have said Saima will require several cycles of Chemotherapy then surgery, followed by more cycles of Chemotherapy, any delay in her treatment will risk her life.

It is going to be a long, expensive and painful process. We are only now in the early stages of her treatment and realise we are going to need help funding her journey. We are already facing debts and in her government job, labour laws for sick leave are not so generous, once her allotted sickness leave is reached her salary will stop until she returns to the workplace.

Saima has always been a very independent, proud woman, asking for money would be the last thing she would do, but it’s necessary now to save her life. When our family was in a financial crisis, there were many occasions when she was being forced on stopping her own education and getting married off, she always chose the harder path.

My sister is a giver to people, both in her family and outside. We want to buy some time for her so that she can live her fair share of life that she deserves.

Saima has always been a fighter. Now she is fighting cancer. Her health has been fluctuating since the Chemo started and we had to admit her to the Hospital on a few occasions. This financial burden turns our whole family upside down. A little donation would help us to reach our goal which will be spent on her cancer treatment and recovery.

I have attached photos of Saima and our family.

If you or anyone else want to donate from Bangladesh, here is the bikash no: +880 1646-490511. Name: Jahanara Begum, Date of Birth: 1965

Thank you and God bless you.

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