Wards to flowers: Tulip Garden trip for young cancer fighters | India News
Srinagar: Flowers of hope have blossomed in Srinagar’s tulip garden. Some cancer kids just came back with rich pickings.Children from the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) were brought to the garden next to Dal Lake on Monday as part of the hospital’s immunotherapy efforts — strengthening the immune system with hope, optimism and positivity. The number of children is about a dozen. The oldest was 18 and the youngest just four.The transition was quick. When a SKIMS bus carrying children leaves the hospital, the mood inside turns sour. Many wore masks. Their attendants sat in silence. 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, many becoming more relaxed as the visit progressed.In photos released later, the group were smiling together, capturing a rare moment of relaxation from the hospital’s critical wards. “The human body’s internal immune system not only fights bacterial and viral infections but can also fight and kill cancer cells. Taking out these children was part of the immunotherapy treatment. We are trying to boost the immune system of these children, which can help our treatment to be more effective,” SKIMS director M. Ashraf Ghani said TOI.The feedback from the doctors who accompanied the children indicated a great improvement in mood compared to their stay in the hospital. “The kids were so happy. It reassured both the kids and their families that it’s not something they can’t fight,” Ganey said.This was the first such SKIMS initiative and the hospital had been preparing for about a month. “We have planned the trip according to the children’s chemotherapy schedule so that no dose is missed. Doctors accompanied them everywhere and all precautions were taken,” Gani said, adding that food was also arranged for the children and attendants during the trip.The hospital plans to formally evaluate the initiative’s impact through questionnaire-based feedback from children and their caregivers. “The findings will help determine whether similar programs can be organized in the future as part of a holistic approach to pediatric cancer care,” Ganey said.
