She contracted cancer at the age of 3 and this place brought her and her family back to life

The little 3-year-old Judith fell ill with cancer, which forced her family members to change her entire life order.

Her mother tells how one special kindergarten of the Zichron Menachem Association managed to bring her and her daughter back to smile.

Walla!

health

11/01/2022

Tuesday, 11 January 2022, 17:35 Updated: 17:51

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share on Email

• Share on general

• Comments

  Comments

When my eldest daughter, Judith, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of three, I was already the mother of a one-year-old girl and a few-month-old baby.

There are no words to describe the rupture I experienced, at a time that was supposed to be the most beautiful in my life.

Overnight and a diagnosis I crashed into abysses of fear and anxiety about my debut having to deal with a menacing illness, and she is only three years old.

For four months my daughter has been in intensive care in hospitals, surrounded by the best doctors and amazing service girls from Menachem Memorial and zero pediatric society.

This is how it is when dealing with immunosuppressive therapies.

You are doomed to live without friends in the garden, without walks in the garden even without your cousins ​​and grandparents.

More on Walla!

The summer camp of the Zichron Menachem Association for Children with Cancer

To the full article

Jewish before she fell ill (Photo: Courtesy of the family)

And I?

I sent the baby to the daycare earlier than planned and spent my days running to the hospital, working and an almost Sisyphean desperate attempt to maintain a normal family routine.

The two young children saw much less of Mom and Dad because Judith needed us, not only as parents, but as gardeners, as caregivers, as grandparents and also as playmates.

Have you ever tried to explain to a three-year-old why the world she knew was closing down and now it's just her and you?

That you will not need because it is impossible.

More on Walla!

• Hair donation is a matter of life and death, no less

• Being a cancer patient in a community that fails to understand what cancer is

• The smart test that detects an increased risk of having a stroke is currently in operation

The corona along with the limitations of her health and immune status made her daily routine closed and disconnected and ours for 24 hours a day of guilt and a sense of helplessness as a mother. How can you run a family like this? Relationships? And myself. I, who was just always looking for a walk and a variety, closed between the doors of the house and the corridors of the hospital, but in the same breath I revoke my right to complain because my daughter is the main issue.

And my daughter, who was so sociable before the onset of the disease, became a loner, one that a children's society became a stranger to. Suddenly, after months of agreeing between tests and treatments, all the distractions at home no longer challenged or interested her enough. She became an angry, nervous, sad and erupting girl, unsatisfied - as strange as it is to say about a 3.5 year old girl. Therefore, when I was told between the series of treatments that even with the reduction of treatments, Judith would not be able to return to kindergarten, I felt that this was the biggest blow since that day of diagnosis.

My husband and I were afraid of her.

From her staying at home.

We even started looking for a larger apartment and were close to taking a very large loan on our shoulders, despite budget constraints - the main thing is that we can provide it with a sufficient environment months in-house.

Judith celebrates a birthday in the new kindergarten (Photo: courtesy of the family)

Then came the protected kindergarten for children with cancer of the Zichron Menachem Association. The friends insisted that I did not regret, the members of the association promised to take care of our daughter - from transportation, games, hot meals and smiles, my house I set up was a moment before the collapse and I knew I had to try. Just before taking on the debts and moving into the apartment, I arrived at the protected garden in Jerusalem - and I will forever be grateful for the decision I made.

After a short adjustment in the colorful and special center of the association, I have already seen Judith return to herself. By the end of that day she had already asked to return and by the end of that week it was already clear that my girl was back to being a girl. Back to being Jewish. The change was unbelievable. All the satisfaction and interest a child should receive she received in kindergarten, a company of children who are just like her, with baldness, transfusion and experiences, a teacher who is a rare professional who also knows how to hold a diverse class and does not shy away from an adult girl's wishes for life and death and of course a therapeutic framework for everything With a physiotherapist and medical supervision when needed.

Fulfilled her wish

For us the place was the literal definition of mindfulness - everything that children, sick or healthy, need is there.

The design and games that stimulate play and interest also children who have experienced all the games, toys and gifts that come to the children's classes, art classes, sports, photography, animals, gardening and baking.

Is it any wonder that on days of treatments the girl would cry and beg to go to kindergarten and go through the treatment there?

For me the protected rehabilitation garden was my option for rehabilitation and protection of my family.

Thanks to kindergarten, I was able to return to functioning as a mother to everyone, to Judith and also to her younger brothers.

I had time to take care of at home, work again and yes, also take care of myself.

Find the leisure to take care of Rebecca.

Drink coffee, walk alone on the city streets.

Breathe air knowing full well that my girl is in good hands.

Last week, Judith celebrated her 4th birthday in the Zichron Menachem Rehabilitation Park.

I got colorful pictures of her laughing over a huge cake that Zichron Menachem ordered especially for her.

In the evening she told me that her wish was to go to this garden every day.

I smiled and knew that at least my wish for her happiness had come true.

• health

Tags

• Zichron Menachem

• cancer

• Gardens