A 25-year-old father of a toddler from Rafah described living without his leukemia treatment since the war began, in fear and suffering
I live with my wife and our son Hussein, 2.5, in an apartment in the a-Sa’udi neighborhood in Rafah. In 2021, I was diagnosed with leukemia, and I haven’t been able to work since. In April 2021, after the diagnosis, I was referred to An-Najah Hospital in Nablus.
In May, I went to the hospital and had 70 rounds of chemotherapy, twice a day. The treatments were so grueling that I couldn't walk or move. I couldn't eat and vomited everything. But my blood work did improve.
I stayed in hospital there for seven months, with a fever, body aches and fatigue. They referred me for further treatment and a bone marrow transplant at Tel Hashomer Hospital in Israel.
I went back to Gaza. In February 2022, I went to Tel Hashomer, where they ran tests and prepared me for the transplant. I also had 30-40 rounds of chemotherapy, with regular check-ups. The doctors decided to try and take bone marrow from my brother Sadam, 6, and transplant it in me. Thanks to the help of a human rights organization, after a month, we got a permit for him and for my mother to come with him. My mother brought him to Tel Hashomer. They ran tests on Sadam and decided to go ahead with the procedure. The transplant took place two weeks later. I was isolated in hospital for 70 days, and then moved to the regular ward for monitoring.
On 14 January 2023, I was discharged and went back to Gaza. I still had to go to Tel Hashomer twice a week for check-ups, and had a biopsy every 40 days. I was exhausted all the time and had stomach aches and a fever. Every now and then, I was admitted to hospital for a few days. It went on like that until the war. On 5 October 2023, I went to Tel Hashomer for the last time. I was supposed to go back on 8 October for 30 days of biological treatment, two pills a day, to prevent a relapse, and for a pelvic joint transplant on 10 October. Then came the Hamas attack and the war began. Since then, I haven’t been able to go to the hospital and haven’t received the treatment, because the medication isn’t available in Gaza.
I’m very stressed and afraid that the cancer will return. I’m not under observation, not getting my treatment and can’t go to the hospital. I also really miss the psychological support they provided at Tel Hashomer.
I’m supposed to make sure I only drink clean water, but it’s so expensive now that I can’t afford it. I have severe pain in my right leg, where I was supposed to have the pelvic joint transplant, and they gave me morphine for it. Now I can’t get the morphine, and I can’t walk or leave the house at all.
I live in fear that my condition will deteriorate. I went through so much until it got slightly better, and I’m terrified that without treatment, the disease will come back in full force.
* Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah on 19 January 2024