Chito Miranda of PNE reveals that guitarist Gab Chee Kee has been facing lymphoma for months and is in critical condition in the ICU.
Chito Miranda, frontman of Parokya ni Edgar took to social media about the band's guitarist Gab Chee Kee, who is currently in the intensive care unit for pneumonia due to complications of his lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system.
Miranda wrote a lengthy post on January 18 in his Facebook page detailing the behind-the-scenes happenings regarding Gab’s condition and the band’s decision of playing gigs without their guitarist.
“Gab needs to undergo treatment, and won’t be able to play until he makes a full recovery,” Rappler reported his post.
“Gab is the heart of the band, and it doesn’t feel like Parokya kung wala siya.”
Miranda also detailed that Gab was his best friend since high school, whom he would jam with endlessly even before forming the band.
He disclosed that Gab had been diagnosed of lymphoma late last year and has been undergoing chemotherapy for the past few months, adding that the guitarist was doing relatively well despite the procedure.
"I asked my bandmates na kung pwede, 'wag nalang din muna kami tumugtog habang wala si Gab. Pero kinausap kami ni Gab and asked us to continue playing, because he doesn't want us to stop playing just because we're waiting for him to get better. So we did," Chito added.
Gab then still played with the band as they thought that he was able to handle his condition but he was eventually asked by his doctors to take a break so as to give enough rest for his body.
Notably, Gab did not want anyone else to know of his condition and asked his bandmates to keep to themselves, up until he had to be transferred to the ICU, where he had been intubated for more than a week.
In his post, Miranda said that the band was initially hesitant to ask help from the general public as Chee Kee was “financially prepared” for the chemotherapy, but was suddenly “overwhelmed” by the hospital bills once he was transferred to the ICU.
Gab was then convinced by his family, friends, and other musicians to not “deny the people who cared for him, the opportunity to help him out.”
According to PhilStar, the band with the help of other local artists, will be holding fundraiser gigs, most of which will not be announced as a fundraiser event, to help Gab and his family through these trying times.
The frontman then thanked his fellow musicians Ebe Dancel, Kamikazee, Gloc-9, Shanti Dope, Flow G, Gracenote, December Avenue, Moonstar, P.OT., and Moira dela Torre in his post.
“Matinding laban ‘to for Gab…at reresbakan natin siya… Mahal na mahal namin kayo. Walang iwanan sa Parokya Band... sa Parokya ni Edgar," he ended his post.
Tags: #ParokyaniEdgar, #bands, #OPM