By Abigail Headley
When Nadia Budwah donated one of her kidneys to her son Aditya Mohabir in January of 2021, little did she know that two years later she would watch him suffer again and this time pass away due to bone cancer coupled with tuberculosis (TB).
At the time of the transplant, Aditya was 15-years-old and suffering from end-stage renal failure and was given a new lease on life as the surgery was a success.
However, in January of this year, shortly after the passing of his father and grandfather, Aditya began to experience fevers which was worrying to his mom. Nadia told Stabroek News (SN) that she contacted her son’s doctors to relay that he was ill and, given that he was a transplant patient they took caution with administering medications and monitored his condition (from home) for several days.
After the fever did not let up, the doctors advised Nadia to take her son in to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where they discovered that his blood pressure was high and they admitted and monitored him for about two weeks. During this time they did follow-up tests, including an analysis of his kidney which proved to be in tip-top shape.
After the two weeks had elapsed, Nadia related that Aditya “came home and he was fine for about two to three weeks before the fever returned”.
This time around, when he was admitted to the hospital the doctors noticed that Aditya had a series of swollen lymph nodes – on either underside of his chin (close to his ear) and on either side of his groin – and this prompted them to do a series of tests, including a biopsy. It was then that they found and informed his mom that he had a form of bone cancer. Meanwhile, the lymph nodes turned out to be abscesses. After the discovery of the cancer, the now 17-year-old Aditya was in hospital for about a month and during this time, Nadia said, the doctors put in all their efforts, while her son was in immense pain. The pain, she said, was so intense that her son was constantly in tears and this in turn caused her to cry at seeing him go through so much pain.
“Aditya was going through a really tough time. He would cry so much and I would watch him and cry and then he would get upset because he didn’t want me to cry,” the grieving 34-year-old mother told SN. She added that “when he was going to the hospital I believed he would’ve gone in, gotten treatment, and come out”. However, this was not to be. She explained that for three days and two nights while in the hospital Aditya did not sleep a wink:
“It was like he was scared to close his eyes”.
Last Thursday, Aditya was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Lilendaal Hospital. Nadia explained that he was transferred there because the GPH ICU was packed and also due to the fact that he had developed TB. She added that after a blood transfusion at GPH Aditya began to experience shortness of breath and this prompted the ICU admission.
Life support machine
While there, the young man was placed on a life support machine, his mother related. She lamented that during this period she was not eating.
“I felt my child turn like a baby before my eyes. He couldn’t move his hand and when he could he would grab on… I told him don’t give up, just fight for me… fight for mommy… he responded by knitting his brow and trying to move his head from side to side and he would try to hold my hand and move his tongue as if to speak, but remember he was on the breathing machine so he couldn’t,” she said.
After seeing some semblance of movement from Aditya, which she felt was reassuring that he was indeed “fighting”, Nadia said she finally went and had something to eat. This, despite noting from the machine that his blood pressure had dropped and his heart rate was high (the nurse had explained to her that this was not normal).
Sadly, on Saturday July 22 in the evening Aditya drew his last breath.
“I go home [on Saturday] and just prayed and prayed but I guess my prayers were not answered… If God had wanted him He should have taken him since the transplant surgery…,” she surmised.
Nadia explained that after the success of his kidney transplant surgery she tried to get her son to go out and have fun but he was afraid of venturing out, lest he caught an infection. It was about a week before his final admission into GPH that she successfully managed to take him to MovieTowne Guyana where they both had a good time. “He wanted to go back again but I was sick [at the time] so we didn’t get to go. I regret not going with him now,” the mother mused.
Nadia is advising people who are going through similar situations to support their loved ones and donate a kidney if that is necessary. She explained that it is not hard after donating a kidney, since you can go right back to living a normal life. The mother also noted that if she could have she would’ve given her heart to her son.
This newspaper understands that though he was born a healthy baby, Aditya first became sickly at 11 months old. His mother explained that he did not get to finish school because of his sickly state and due to the fact that he was a slow learner. She said she tried having him enrolled in one-on-one lessons but to no avail since he would fall asleep during the sessions. Aditya would’ve turned 18 in November.
“I just want my son… we did everything together. I don’t know how I’m gonna live without Aditya”.
Nadia and her remaining child, 16-year-old Kaloutie have gone through more than their fair share of grief. This is seen in the death of the children’s grandfather followed by their father’s death (on the same day as the grandfather’s funeral) then most recently Nadia’s cousin and her stepfather passed away. While she understands that she needs to be there for her daughter who is about to sit the upcoming CSEC exams, the grieving mother is finding it hard to hold on following the death of her son.
Up until the time of his death, the kidney that was donated to Aditya by his mother was in perfect working order.
