Social worker and Caribbean Lookbook founder and editor, Mel Gabriel, supported by the Massy Foundation and PricewaterhouseCoopers will present The Coolest Lime, a cancer fundraiser for Gabriel, at Sound Forge this Sunday, August 14th.
The eclectic event will feature soulful performances from calypso icon David Rudder, rapso supergroup 3 Canal, energetic Freetown Collective and jazz singer Vaughnette Bigford, who will lend their voices to Gabriel’s cause, aiding the efforts of her fundraiser for cancer treatment. DJ Jayron “Rawkus” Remy and Sean “DJ Channel13” Gonzales will also bring their lively energy to the event.
Gabriel shared her two-year journey with breast cancer, her plans to further her treatment, and her thoughts on how those who work in the arts deserve better health care for critical illnesses than they often currently receive.
Diagnosed in December 2020, Gabriel underwent a double mastectomy in March of the following year, along with a round of chemotherapy from July 2021 to February 2022, all carried out at the cancer facility located at the St James Medical Complex in the Port of Spain. The next course of treatment, radiotherapy, was to take place at least a year after her surgery, but due to an overloaded system with a large number of patients (including a period during which the radiotherapy machine at the facility was not working), the time ideal for her radiation treatment has long passed.
Gabriel talked about the increased difficulty of receiving treatment in recent years, given her reduced immune resistance as a cancer patient. “It’s not easy to do that in a pandemic,” she said.
Wanting to get back to life as he knew it and give himself more of a chance to fight the disease, Gabriel tried to organize the event.
While she is grateful for the support she has received so far and looks forward to continuing her treatment, Gabriel is fully aware of the fact that for many patients in the public system who have also been left behind, pulling together a group Well-known musical acts to help with fundraising efforts isn’t exactly a possibility.
“Given the network that I have… I’m quite lucky and privileged to have these connections; we always think of those who don’t have that,” she said, adding that after her treatment, raising awareness and working toward helping others in a similar position is part of the “conversation we intend to continue.”
Gabriel added that seeking private treatment would allow other patients to move up the list to take her place.
She recalled that such a decision is somewhat of a gamble as it would require her to give up her place on the public system’s waiting list, but after the long wait she has done so far and the delay in treatment to attack adequately the disease, is a gamble. she is willing to take.
Having already received two forms of breast cancer treatment at the St James facility, Gabriel witnessed first-hand the strong work ethic of the doctors and nurses, whom she praised for their resilience and dedication despite a system very overwhelmed, often. , to the detriment of those on the waiting list and staff as well.
“In their honor, every doctor and nurse at St James and Sangre Grande [Hospital]– they work hard and understand the urgency [but] many things need to be fixed in the system,” she said. “They’re moving as fast as they can, but they’re overwhelmed. More often than not, patients are the ones who suffer.”
As a former social worker specializing in sexual health and reproductive rights with the Family Planning Organization (FPA) and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), Gabriel is no stranger to advocacy. She was featured in last year’s Scotiabank Women Against Breast Cancer campaign. “It was my first attempt at this kind of advocacy,” she said. “I’m very interested in that.”
That advocacy extends to her social media, which she uses to share messages about post-mastectomy body positivity.
Gabriel’s intended future efforts to speak on behalf of other critical care patients will be directed specifically at activists and cultural creators who, quite often, tend not to receive the necessary medical care for life-threatening illnesses, even after making invaluable contributions for decades.
She lamented the untimely death of a number of these figures who lost their lives due to reduced or delayed access to this type of treatment.
“This is where I think we’re failing our creative practitioners,” she said. “People in the creative industry don’t have a lot of support for critical illness [treatment].
However, Gabriel again acknowledged the staff’s efforts amid the difficulties of a gridlocked system.
“I know [in] public health care service, they do their best based on the circumstances, but I’m sure there are other ways. We can rally around our cultural practitioners.”
Gabriel also spoke about the free services offered to cancer patients in the country, recalling that even with obstacles, such services are not subsidized by the state in many other countries.
“We have this privilege, we give thanks,” she said. “There is a silver lining to everything; I think it’s just a matter of creating a better support system for doctors, nurses and patients.”
Coolest Lime will be held at Sound Forge on Christopher Samuel Drive, Port of Spain, on Sunday, August 14, from 5pm to 10pm. Tickets are $250.
Click here to learn more about the event; donate to Gabriel’s fundraising efforts via PayPal.
