Son pleads for help as mother battles cancer
Published:Friday | October 8, 2021 | 12:11 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
In June 2020 when Yvonne Ewers felt a pain in her gums, she initially thought it was just another toothache. But after she removed her tooth and the pain did not subside, she knew something was wrong.
It was a sign of lymphoma.
That is cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s germ-fighting network.
Three weeks after the first sign, the left side of her forehead started swelling rapidly.
Now, one year and three months later, the cancer has disfigured her face with a weighty tumour.
“It’s a kind of cancer which makes tissue grow in her face, so her face constantly swells and every day it pains her. She cannot eat properly,” Roger Foster, Ewers’ son, said.
He believes that the chemotherapy, which he said she started in July 2020, is not helping her and prefers that she receive specialised care overseas.
“The chemo not helping her. It start swelling, and right now it break out and turn inna sore, so we are trying to get assistance overseas fi see if she could get a surgery fi cut out her face because it very terrible on her,” Foster told The Gleaner.
The 70-year-old former household worker is pleading for financial assistance.
“Mi wouldn’t mind if mi could get help from overseas fi cut out the root. I would be happy to get some help,” she said.
She complains of having sleepless nights for more than a year and of being unable to eat whole foods. She has been relying on liquid substances for nutrients and sustenance for months.
Foster said physicians have advised them that they do not have specialised equipment in Jamaica to perform a successful surgery on his mother. However, the physicians would be happy to give them overseas referrals, he said.
The family has spent about J$200,000 so far on fees and transportation for treatment.
Foster used to be a day’s worker and raised six children with her meagre salary before retiring.
She does not have life or health insurance.
Her son pleads for persons who can help to assist, especially a medical facility overseas that specialises in treatment for lymphoma.
“Mi wuda really like her fi get the help still for her to recover. I would be really grateful if someone could help her ... I would be grateful if any generous person is out there and could help,” he said.
Foster explained to The Gleaner that he lost his job weeks before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in Jamaica in March 2020.
He has had to give up a job as a security guard because he is tasked with caring for his mom in the daytime. His siblings are employed.
“I have to bring her to the doctor and take care of her. I got that job from January this year at a security company. I started working, but I had to stop because of my mother’s illness,” he said.
Persons interested in assisting may contact Foster at 876-323-4255.