A mother of three is pleading for the public’s assistance to cover the cost of radiation for her 15-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor.
Shaniece Nanhoe was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) which is a rare type of cancer that forms in soft tissue and most often affects children.
Shelly Balkarran told the News Room during an interview that Shaniece is currently a patient at the Cancer Institute of Guyana. After several bouts of Chemotherapy failed, on Monday morning, she was told that she will need $1.3M to begin radiation.
“I am not giving up…the doctors wanted me to make the decision if to go ahead with the radiation, I asked what’s my option and they said none really because surgery is not possible at this moment and definitely the Chemo is not working,” according to the mother.
Balkarran recalled that her daughter fell ill in July 2019; at the time the family lived in St Kitts and Nevis.
What started as a slightly swollen right eye has now deteriorated into a full-grown tumor which led to the loss of sight in the eye.
“I suggest that it was just a cold and I waited for one week and it wasn’t going down. Then I see the jaw was swollen and I thought was tooth infection which will affect the whole one side of the face…” the mother said.
The family visited two Dentists, an Optometrist and a family doctor but after the condition worsened, the teen was rushed to the emergency ward where it was later discovered she had a tumor.
“Taking that news of Tumor…we walked out because we did not know what to do,” the woman said as tears streamed down her face.
In August, the family travelled to Jamaica where it was discovered that the tumor cancerous. There, Shaniece was given one dose of Chemotherapy but with limited money, Balkarran said she reached out to the Cancer foundation and returned to her native home where she joined the Cancer Institute of Guyana.
“At that time, all our money went to the bills in Jamaica [over] USD$20,000…but we realised we were at ground zero but I wanted to fight this cancer…I heard free Chemo and that I can get help [so I came],” Balkarran said.
“My daughter was the perfect child, she don’t even answer me back,” the crying woman said.
“Any assistance I would accept,” Balkarran pleaded.
Anyone wishing to donate can contact Shelly Balkarran on +592- 692- 4045.
