Wards to flowers: Tulip Garden trip for young cancer fighters

SRINAGAR: Hope blooms in Srinagar’s Tulip Garden. Some cancer-struck kids just came back with rich pickings.

The children were brought to the garden along Dal Lake on Monday from Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) as part of the hospital’s immunotherapy efforts --- strengthening the immune system with hope, optimism and positivity. The children numbered around a dozen. The oldest was 18 and the youngest only four.

The transformation was swift. When an SKIMS bus carrying the children left the hospital, the mood inside was subdued. Many wore masks. Their attendants sat quietly. By the time they reached the garden, the atmosphere inside the bus had changed. The children’s faces lit up at the sight of the tulips, with many appearing more relaxed as the visit progressed.

In photos released later, the group was smiling together, capturing a rare moment of ease away from the grim hospital wards. “The human body’s internal immunity not only fights bacterial and viral infections but can also fight and kill cancer cells. The outing of these children was part of immunotherapy treatment. We are trying to boost the immunity of these children, which can help make our treatment more effective,” SKIMS director M. Ashraf Ganie told TOI.

Feedback from doctors accompanying the children indicated great improvement in mood compared to when they were in hospital. “The children were very happy . It gives both the children and their families reassurance that this is not something they cannot fight,” Ganie said.

This was the first such SKIMS initiative and the hospital had been preparing for nearly a month. “We planned the outing in accordance with the children’s chemotherapy schedules so that no doses were missed. Doctors accompanied them throughout and all precautions were taken,” Ganie said, adding meals were also arranged for the children and attendants during the trip.

The hospital plans to assess the impact of the initiative formally through questionnaire-based feedback from the kids and their attendants. “The findings will help determine whether similar programmes can be organised in the future as part of a holistic approach to paediatric cancer care,” Ganie said.

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