At a
cancer center,
the patients aren't
the only ones
who worry.
ABOVE:
Zeb Khan, whose daughter Sabeen was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, reflects on changes in her own and her family's lives.
A Mother Supports Her Daughter's Fight
Against Cancer
Interview with Zeb Khan, Mother of Sabeen
Written by Ruth Pennebaker
Photographed by Michael Trevino
At a cancer center, the patients aren't the only ones who worry. They're often accompanied by families who are trying to support them, trying to stay strong.
"Children are more positive than adults," said Zeb Khan, age 43. "They're better at taking things as they come."
Mrs. Khan's eldest daughter, Sabeen, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer shortly after her 16th birthday. After months of chemotherapy close to their home in Knoxville, Tennessee, Sabeen came to the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center for proton therapy treatment.
Her mother and two younger sisters, 4 and 10, came with her. Mrs. Khan is home-schooling her three daughters during Sabeen's several weeks of proton and chemotherapy while her husband continues to work in Knoxville. Their daily schedule is dictated by Sabeen's treatments — but they're happy to be in a place that offers more hopeful treatment.
Before coming to Houston, the family faced the choice of chemotherapy coupled with eventual surgery to amputate Sabeen's left leg and half her pelvis.
"This has given us a new ray of hope," said Zeb Khan. "Sabeen now has a future to look forward to.
Shortly after her 16th birthday, Sabeen Khan was diagnosed with cancer
"Before, there wasn't anything. Even if she survived, she would have been bedridden and totally dependent on others for everything."
The new proton therapy center offers treatments that will spare Sabeen's leg, most of her intestines and one of her ovaries, said Shiao Y. Woo, Sabeen's radiation oncologist. Because proton therapy is so minutely specific, it doesn't damage surrounding tissue the way ordinary radiation would, and it is particularly effective in treating many pediatric cancers.
"I'm glad to be able to offer her proton therapy," Dr. Woo said.
"Sabeen's very bubbly, carefree, friendly and outgoing," her mother said. "She has lots of friends. She's just a normal teenager.
"She takes things as they come. She's never concerned about why she has this illness. Of course, she has some weak moments when she cries. But then she bounces back."
So, Mrs. Khan waits in the atrium of the proton therapy center, her two younger daughters by her side. Their world turned upside-down, she says, with Sabeen's diagnosis. When a beloved daughter has a dangerous illness, it's impossible for her mother to remain unchanged.
"I look at things differently now," Mrs. Khan said. "I don't feel angry about things. I've become more forgiving and sympathetic toward others.
"When your whole world changes, it opens your mind."
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