Khadija, mother of a daughter with MS: “I didn’t want to know”

Self protection

Her daughter does not share everything with her mother. “She’s really trying to protect me. She recently fell down the stairs, but she didn’t tell me. I only found out through her sisters. She also has big problems sleeping because of nerve pain. When I ask her how she slept, she says she just woke up. Later her husband told me “She stayed up all night because of the pain.”

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Now I have woken up and realize that the situation is really dangerous. I didn’t want to admit that my daughter wasn’t feeling well, but the reality is harsh. When she’s with me, she sits on the couch with puffy eyes. She told me things were going well, but later she talked to her brother separately and then I saw she was crying. She shares very little with me; I hear it from my daughters or her husband. She is very protective of me.

A picture of Yasmina in her best times and with her smile. The text continues below the image.

Khadija finds it difficult to hear that her daughter is not in good health. But now reality is starting to set in. “In a way I don’t want to hear that, but on the other hand I really want to know how she’s doing.”

Stem cell therapy

Yasmina is now desperate and longs to get her life back. “My world has become so small,” she says. “Even simple tasks like shopping or cleaning the house take me a whole day and I am currently unable to do that.” Her mother confirms this: “When she goes to the store, she has to sleep for the rest of the day.”

Every month, Yasmina undergoes infusion therapy to treat the nerve pain she suffers from MS. “I have tried everything to relieve her pain, but nothing seems to help. Over time her condition will get worse.” Yasmina is now pinning her hopes on stem cell treatment in Mexico. A treatment that is not yet available in the Netherlands and is not reimbursed.

She created a crowdfunding campaign herself (under the name: Yasmina Al-Bannai), hoping to raise the necessary amount of 65 thousand euros. “Thanks to this treatment, I hope to live a normal life, where I can do the simplest things for myself again,” Yasmina says on her campaign page.

Despair

At first, Khadija did not want Yasmina to undergo treatment. “It was only yesterday that I realized that she had to do this,” she says, crying. I don’t think she has any other choice. She just wants to do this treatment and get her life back. But I find it very difficult. “She will disappear after that, out of my sight, and I don’t know how long she will be gone.”

Despite the uncertainty, Hatice only wants one thing: for Yasmina to get better. She longs to see her daughter’s smile again. “I would like to help her, but the treatment costs 65 thousand euros, and I don’t have that. I hope people will donate a little so she can go to Mexico.”

future

Khadija does not dare to think about the future. “I find it very difficult. I don’t want to think about it. My greatest wish is that she doesn’t end up in a wheelchair. Sometimes she also has difficulty speaking and can’t get out the words. It’s really terrible. But I’ve heard the treatment works well.” “If that were possible, it would be very nice. As long as she would become the old Yasmina again.”

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