Former Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, is to undergo treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.
His wife, Hazel Manning, disclosed his diagnosis in a post on social media in the early hours of this morning.
“After conducting the appropriate tests, Mr. Manning was diagnosed last evening as having Acute Myeloid Leukemia and is being prepared to undergo treatment,” she wrote on her husband’s Facebook page and Twitter account.
“We thank everyone for their support and prayers and ask that you continue to pray for him as he undergoes treatment.”
The 69-year-old Manning had been admitted to hospital on Monday evening for “investigation concerning an aberration in his blood-count”.
Earlier in the day yesterday, his wife had indicated that his condition was stable and he was “reasonably comfortable, chatty and jocular”, as he awaited test results.
Among those who have visited the former Trinidad and Tobago leader was St. Vincent and the Grendines’ Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.
Manning had a tumour removed from his left kidney in Cuba in December 2008, while he was prime minister. Four years later, he suffered a stroke and was hospitalised in the twin-island republic before being taken to the United States for treatment.
AML, with which he has now been diagnosed, usually gets worse quickly if it is not treated, according to the National Cancer Institute.
It is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. (Caribbean360)
