Name: Amreen. H. Khan
Tata Hospital Number BP 17047

Hello, my name is Amreen. I am a 12 year old girl and live in Mumbai with my Mummy, Papa and little brother. One day in the school, I could not see the black board properly and my class teacher told me to see an eye doctor.

The doctor looked in my eyes and asked me to do a CT scan to see if it was OK inside. After that, Dr. Andar the Brain surgeon at Bombay hospital operated and removed a tumour from my brain (pineal region). Operation did not pain as I was given the sleeping injection. I was then sent to the Tata hospital, where the doctors asked me to go for another scan and then told me that I
would have to take 6 weeks of radiation or 'light' treatment.

Then they told me that this treatment will not hurt me and if I take this treatment, I will become all right again. But, they also told me that my hair would fall, but then slowly come back. Then they made me lie on a table and made a mask. The mask was tight but I could somehow see through the mask what the doctors were doing to plan my radiation treatment.

I was scared when the table was moving but doctor uncle (Dr Sarin) told me, "don't move Amreen, so that we can quickly finish the marking and then you can go home." The next day, I was taken to a very big machine called Linac. When I came out of the room, my little brother asked me what did they do inside. I told him that the mask was fitted on my face again and they
switched off the lights, which scared me. They left me alone in the big room for 5 minutes. I could hear the sounds of the machine that was moving, but I did not cry as it did not touch me or hurt me.

Like I go to school everyday, I used to come by train to Tata hospital with my mother every day for 6 weeks for the radiation treatment. I used to cry when my hair started falling and the head became dark and stopped going to school. I wanted to play but everyone said Amreen do not play. My friends from school and those near my house came to see me. I told them I was OK.

The doctor did one more MRI of my head and my Mummy was very happy when Doctor uncle told her that the tumour had gone. I then started going to school. One day Deshmukh uncle, the social worker from Tata Hospital phoned my house and called me to the function of BTF. My Mummy gave me good dress and bangles for the function. There I danced on very nice song "Bhumro Bhumro, Shyam rang Bhumroâ?" and everyone said that Amreen is very good in dancing. Two years after the treatment I go to the hospital for check up after every 4 months. My Mummy is scared to go to the hospital but me and my brother are not afraid to go there as they are all nice and do not give me any injection.

Amreen, 27th May 2002, Mumbai