Wajahat Ali Wiki Bio: Daughter, Married, Wife, Age, Birthplace, Birthday, CNN, College

Wajahat Ali is a Pakistani-American attorney, keynote speaker, Contributing Oped Writer at NY Times, and a contributor at CNN.

Quick Facts and Information on Wajahat Ali

Wajahat Ali Daughter Diagnosed With Cancer

CNN contributor Wajahat’s daughter got diagnosed with cancer this year (2019) and here’s the full detail on how him and his wife got the unfortunate news.

Wajahat’s wife Sarah shared took to her Facebook on 12th July 2019 to share about what happened to their daughter, Nusayba, in detail. Sarah describes that unfortunate day to be 15th of April 2019,

That Monday early morning my 2 1/2 year old daughter, Nusayba, woke up complaining of some abdominal pain and asking to drink some water. I remember being so exhausted because my 4 1/2 year old son, Ibrahim, was up for a lot of the night coughing from a cold and we had finally fallen asleep 30 minutes before that.

I wasn’t so concerned about her abdominal pain alone, but then she vomited a few minutes later. I examined her abdomen and was surprised to feel a mass. I was worried that it was intussusception (an abdominal condition, common in young kids, where a part of one intestine telescopes over another part of the intestine causing a blockage) and I took her to the Emergency Department to have it checked out.

I had a full day of patients scheduled so I called my clinic and had them cancel my morning patients thinking I could potentially make it back to see my afternoon patients. On the way to the hospital Nusayba was feeling better and asked me to go back home. I told her that hopefully it’d be a quick check and she agreed with a deal that we would pick her up some cotton candy on the way home.

We got to the hospital and the Emergecy Department physician felt the same mass I did. They did an abdominal x-ray and an abdominal ultrasound. Nusayba and I were goofing around and taking selfies in the ultrasound room after her ultrasound was done. I was telling her how proud of her I was that she sat still in my lap for the ultrasound and we were debating about which flavor of cotton candy to get whenever we go home.

Just 1 minute later the radiologist came in the room to talk with me. She started with “Unfortunately I have really bad news for you. Your daughter has multiple liver masses throughout her entire liver, almost diagnostic of hepatoblastoma (liver cancer).” My heart sank … and I just stared at the doctor for a few seconds. I’ve given the “unfortunately I have really bad news for you” talk to my patients so many times before, and it’s always so painful and heartbreaking, but this was the first time I was on the receiving end and there’s no way to describe it.

I didn’t cry at that point, but Nusayba, being the sweet, empathetic girl she is, sensed my sadness and reached up from my lap to give me a kiss on my cheek. I just couldn’t believe that my rambunctious, active, cheerful little girl who never had any health issues had been growing cancer tumors in her liver for who knows how long. They gave her a disney princess sticker kit and she was soo excited. I kept looking at her innocent face and felt absolutely shattered thinking of how her world was about to change 😞 I quietly broke down in tears and then called my husband, Wajahat, to share the sad news with him (he was away for his TED talk and stayed back to give a courageous talk).

Wajahat Ali Daughter’s Cancer Treatment

Sarah continued to provide details on how the treatment of their daughter began, she wrote,

Nusayba was admitted to the Oncology ward and got further tests the next few days – she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hepatoblastoma (due to extent of liver masses in each lobe along with spread to the lungs with one small lung nodule). Hepatoblastoma is rare (affecting only about 1-2 children out of 1 million) but it is the most common form of liver tumor in children (and is usually diagnosed during the first 3 years of life).

Over the last 2 1/2 months Nusayba has endured 8 sessions of very intense chemotherapy. We have spent more time in the hospital than outside of it. It has been full of the expected side effects and also unexpected complications … tumor rupture, bleeding into the abdomen, red blood cell transfusions, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, decreased energy, decreased appetite, nose bleeds, platelet transfusions, nasogastric tube placement/replacements, magnesium infusions, neutropenic fevers, mucositis, hair loss, some hearing loss. She has had a PICC line placement, a port placement, a MRI, multiple CT’s, abdominal ultrasounds, echocardiograms, EKGs, and hearing tests.

Nusayba, who we have always called our warrior princess as she was named after a strong, brave female warrior companion of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), has lived up to her name and has shown resilience and courage every single step of the way. I am in absolute awe of her. The nurses are all amazed at how she complies with everything from the vital sign checks every 4 hours to waking up in the middle of the night to take oral meds to sitting still during the CT scans to braving the weekly port needle changes without any tears. Despite everything she’s going through she still puts her brother’s needs first and says things like “It’s okay, Iboo can choose first because I don’t want him to be upset.”

She’s had a few breakdowns when all the hospitalizations/treatments have been a lot and she has just cried to let all her emotions out and then I hugged her and did the same. After we cry together she says “Mama, I feel better.” She wants to understand things going on in her care and helps with setting up her nightly NG tube feeds and her nightly IV fluids with magnesium. Her current favorite songs that she adorably belts out are “Get Back Up Again” from the Trolls and “Speechless” from Aladdin 😍

Update of Wajahat Ali’s Daughter’s Health Condition

The wonderful update is that despite all the difficult setbacks, complications, and chemo side effects we are so so so fortunate that the chemotherapy has been effective – her small lung nodule has resolved and all of her liver tumors have shrunken in size. She’s also back to herself, she has gained weight, and she is full of energy, running around chasing her older brother, adoring her Baba and giggling at his jokes, and spreading hugs and love.

Unfortunately her liver tumors are too widespread throughout her liver that just removing a part of her liver isn’t possible for cure, so she will need a liver transplant. She has now been placed on the UNOS liver transplant list (waiting to receive a liver match from a deceased donor).

Her liver transplant team has also determined that she will be an excellent candidate for a living donor transplant. In a living donor liver transplant someone voluntarily donates a portion of his/her liver and due to the liver’s ability to regenerate itself, the donated part of the liver grows to full size in Nusayba (as she grows) and in the donor (over a span of a few days to 8 weeks). The benefits of living donation are that Nusayba can avoid waiting too long for a liver and can avoid facing life threatening complications (resulting from the long wait). The transplant surgery can also be scheduled on a day that is convenient for the donor and that is healthiest for Nusayba.

In Nusayba’s case the living donor must:
-Have O blood type (you can be O positive or O negative … you can find your blood type if you donate blood or if you get a lab check with your primary care doctor)
-Be in good physical and mental health
-Be at least 18 years old and less than 55 years old
-Undergo a medical and psychosocial evaluation
-Have their own health insurance policy (although Nusayba’s insurance will cover the evaluation, transplant surgery, required followup appointments, and testing they still require the donor to have their own health insurance as other unrelated health findings might come up in the evaluation process)
-Understand the risks that come along with a major surgery (which the eval team will go over with you)
-Be able to take at least 6 weeks off from work (for full recovery post surgery)

What we need most is your continued prayers and well wishes, but if any of you are interested and feel you might be a good candidate for living liver donation for Nusayba then you can complete this application online. (you can put down Nusayba as first name under recipient, you don’t have to fill out any other info about her). If you have more questions or need more information you can also call the Living Donor Transplant Program at 202-444-1360