US doctor with Stage 4 cancer fears travel ban will stop his Syrian family from flying over to be with him
- Morhaf Al Achkar, 33, emigrated to the United States from Syria in 2006
- He is a doctor at Indiana University, has trained hundreds of med students
- Dr Al Achkar was diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer in November 2015
- Patients with this cancer typically have life expectancy of 4-10 months
- President Trump's 'travel ban' blocks Syrians from entering the US for 90 days
- It means Dr Al Achkar's brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews, and stepmother may not be able to make it to the US to be with him
A US doctor diagnosed with Stage IV cancer says he cannot be with his family - since they are Syrian and barred by President Trump's travel ban.
Dr Morhaf Al Achkar, 33, emigrated to the United States from Syria in 2006, before becoming an esteemed primary care physician at Indiana University.
In November, he was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, which typically carries a life expectancy of four to 10 months.
Now he is desperate to see his brother, sister-in-law, and their three children, who are currently based in England. But the ban means they may not make it to the US.
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Tragic: Dr Morhaf Al Achkar, 33, emigrated to the United States from Syria in 2006, and became a family doctor at Indiana University. He was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer last year
Speaking out: On Sunday, Dr Al Achkar revealed he has months to live but his brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews, and stepmother may not be able to come to the US to be with him
Taking to Facebook on Sunday, Al Achkar described his agony.
'My disease is so advanced that no treatment out there will cure me or even make me live longer,' he wrote.
'I have metastatic cancer, I may not be here in few months, and my family, because they are Syrians, can't come to visit me.'
President Trump has issued an executive order banning the US from taking in people with full or dual citizenship from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia for 90 days (three months).
Al Achkar managed to reach the US before Syria became the war zone it is today, followed seven years later by his sister who is a neuroscientist and professor at the University of California and his father who is an economics professor in Maryland.
However, his green card-holding stepmother is stuck in Saudi Arabia, blocked by the ban. His brother, a professor and engineer who made it to England with his family, is also blocked by the ban.
'It hurts to not know if I would ever see my family again,' Al Achkar wrote in his Facebook post which swept the internet this weekend.
His diagnosis of metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lung was a shock - even as a professional medic.
It came on the eve of Thanksgiving - weeks after he started a new work out regimen, that seemed to make him more exhausted than usual.
'I became increasingly short of breath back in November,' Al Achkar told Daily Mail Online.
'I never imagined it would be cancer; I thought it is may be my asthma or a pneumonia. But then it got really bad.'
He went for an x-ray, which showed fluids around the lung. A closer look showed cancer cells.
As Al Achkar explained: 'Whenever the person has what we call metastatic pleural effusion (that is cancer cell in the pleural - the space around the lung - fluid) then it is stage 4.'
'I was a healthy person; never a smoker,' Al Achkar told Daily Mail Online.
'My particular cancer is caused by a genetic mutation called ALK (Anaplastic lymphoma kinase).
'This type of lung cancer is predominant among young non-smokers. So it is just my bad luck.
'We all get mutations, and in some people those lead to cancer.'
Metastatic is a synonym for Stage IV - the final stage of cancer, when it has spread far beyond the original tumor site.
With most cancers - like lung cancer - your prognosis is far better the earlier the cancer is diagnosed.
Al Achkar managed to reach the US before Syria became the war zone it is today, shortly before his sister who is a neuroscientist and professor at the University of California and his father who is an economics professor in Maryland
In terms of lung cancer, it is not always easy to spot symptoms - even by the time it reaches Stage IV - since they are often similar to other health conditions.
Symptoms include a persistent cough, coughing up blood or bloody phlegm, chest pain, shortness of breath, wheezing, weakness, and sudden weight loss.
In most cases, it cannot be cured, though patients can try chemotherapy or radiation therapy to extend their life expectancy.
Al Achkar's cancer is inoperable for a number of reasons.
Firstly, any adenocarcinoma in this stage is considered a systemic disease, i.e.: it is not local.
Secondly, the surgery is massive and will involve taking the whole left side of what is inside his chest.
Thirdly, there are less invasive options for treatment but they won't necessarily make him live longer.
Al Achkar explained he was incredibly reluctant to share his story.
'I am a private person and they are private people. I chose to let my story go public to serve a better cause,' he said.
'I am not just the unfortunate doctor/professor who had cancer and died. I am the one who not only decide to fight cancer and life, but who decided to fight it by connecting to a bigger whole.'
He said his Facebook post on Sunday has already has an overwhelming positive reaction from readers, some offering to help, others saying it has inspired them to take action.
Writing on Facebook, he said his wish as he battles his disease is for the ban to be lifted and compassion for Syrian immigrants.
'My suffering is not even close to that of the refugees who have faced death and the questions about the meaning of their suffering, and the longing to be just normal. ... Yes we can do something for them and yes we should. We can open our country for them,' he said.
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