For women the breast cancer diagnosis comes as a bolt from the blue. But for 34-year-old Noor Fatimah, an Indonesian housewife residing in Jeddah, it came as a blessing in disguise. The wrecking news helped her mend fences with her husband Muhammad Abdullah, a pharmacist. Two years into her marriage, Fatimah never found her husband loving or caring. “We were not a happy couple as he was aggressive and selfish. I had decided to seek divorce from him after going back to my country,” Fatimah recounted. With an unloving and uncaring husband at home and no relatives to take recourse to, Fatimah was feeling dejected when one day she felt a pimple-size lump in her right breast. Soon it grew into a thumb-size tumor. On her third visit, the doctor broke the bad news. “I was in stage three at that time. I was also told that I have five years to live if I did not go for masactomy (removal of the breast),” she said. She cried, not only because she felt that her end was near but also because she feared that her husband would dump her. Contrary to her notion, her husband took the news calmly and extended all support. “I was shocked when I heard the sad news; suddenly all complaints disappeared,” said Fatimah's husband Abdullah. Being a pharmacist he had a vague idea about the psychological changes a breast cancer patient undergoes. Fatimah too underwent such changes. “She was tormented by the news and wavered from feelings of fear, aggravation, isolation to anxiety, confusion, guilt and a sense of betrayal,” said Abdullah. In such situations, Abdullah helped and consoled her. Abdullah's changed behavior helped Fatimah cope up with her distress. “He even told me that he loves me for what I am and not for what I look like. I was so touched and also felt remorse for my past attitude,” she told the Saudi Gazette. Fatimah underwent masactomy and chemotherapy. As a chemotherapy side-effect, she started losing her hair and went bald. “My brothers-in-law started calling me an alien. I was so sad, but to my utter surprise, my husband took them to a barber and got their heads tonsured,” she said. With her husband's help and support, Fatimah fought off cancer. She got back new fluff of hairs. During her rounds to the hospital for chemotherapy sessions, she met many women who faced dejection from their husbands. She found out that many husbands get angry and reject their wives when faced with situations like these. Fatimah thanks Almighty for giving her a husband who stood by her side in time of crisis and at a time when she needed him the most. __
