Reporter
Carisa.Lee@cnc3.co.tt
At the age of 19, the last thing Roel Mohammed thought he would be diagnosed with was cancer. That’s why when his symptoms first started, he didn’t think too much of it.
“I didn’t take it on as deeply as I should of. I think, although we went to doctors to get a diagnosis, it wasn’t anything so serious to raise any red flags at the time,” he said.
At the time, Mohammed was a recent graduate from Naparima College, pursuing a degree in Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), and had a love for fitness and martial arts.
But as time progressed, his symptoms intensified until it became difficult for him to walk up a flight of stairs.
He said in one month he lost 40 pounds, and in December 2023, another visit to his doctor revealed some scary news.
“I took an X-ray and from that day we saw the mass on my lung completely restricting the airflow of that lung,” he shared.
Weeks later, a biopsy at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mount Hope showed he had Primary Mediastinal Large B-cell Lymphoma, which, according to Mohammed, is a type of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma which develops when B-cells become cancerous.
He explained that the abnormal B-cells (Lymphoma cells) usually develop in a part of the Lymphatic System called the Thymus Gland.
“They then build up in lymph nodes behind the breastbone and between the lungs. In my case, a bulky 19.6 cm mass had formed on my left lung,” Mohammed explained on his GoFundMe page.
Since then, Mohammed, with the support of his family, has received six cycles of chemotherapy at the San-Fernando Haematology Department. This reduced the mass on his lung.
Utilising his health insurance, Mohammed received a foreign form of chemotherapy (nivolumab). He said a PET scan showed that form of chemo did not reduce the mass. So it was on to option three - radiation. Unfortunately, 20 sessions of radiation to his chest did not produce the results they were hoping for, and a new 4.4 cm mass began forming on his liver.
“Both the masses have a reproduction scale of five, so they both reproduce aggressively, so upon finding this out, I started more chemo immediately,” he said.
Mohammed admitted that this news took a toll on him. However, he said support from his doctors, friends and most importantly, his family, is what keeps him motivated.
His mother, Cindy Ganga Persad, who lost her sister to the disease in 2014, said she struggled to cope at first.
“I think with your child is different...I think as a mother I didn’t want to accept the news, I just wanted to bury my head...as he said he was strong, he was healthy, he just finish all his studies, he study so hard and he would have gotten through with what he wanted to do and then hearing this news it was a big blow,” she explained.
But even though it’s difficult to accept, she refuses to give up. That’s why they are asking for the public’s assistance to help Mohammed receive a Stem Cell Transplant in Canada.
It’s already scheduled for September, but so far they’ve only raised one-tenth of the 200,000 Canadian dollars needed.
“This is my last option, the last thing I can do to heal me, if not, we really not sure what the next step forward would be,” he shared.
Anyone willing to assist can visit the GoFundMe with the title Help Roel beat Lymphoma with a Stem Cell Transplant: www.gofundme.com/f/help-roel-beat-lymphoma-with-a-stem-cell-transplant.
Donations can also be made to First Citizens Bank in the name of Cindy Ganga Persad Account # 1175925.
