Michigan Judge Rips Into 72-Year-Old Cancer Patient for Messy Property; Petition Demanding Judge’s Removal Gets More Than 200K Signatures

In August, Burhan Chowdhury received a ticket for not maintaining his front yard. Chowdhury appeared in court via video chat on January 10, explaining that his cancer treatment had left him physically weak, and therefore unable to clean his property.

This context did not win Chowdhury any sympathy from Judge Alexis G. Krot of the 31st District Court. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Have you seen that photo? That is shameful," she said. "You better get that cleaned up. That is totally inappropriate."

Chowdhury's son Shibbir accompanied his father on the video call to help him communicate because Chowdhury does not speak much English. Since Chowdhury was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2019, Shibbir and his mother have helped manage the property. Shibbir was out of the country when his father received the ticket.

"I usually take care of the stuff in the backyard and everything, but that time I was out of the country," Shibbir said. "There was really mistakes I should have taken care of. But, yeah, still, like she should have said my father more politely."

Since the 10th, the video of the court hearing has gone viral on social media, and a petition demanding the removal of Judge Krot has amassed over 215,000 signatures. Chowdhury's family has cleared the property, and they have said they will pay the $100 fine connected to the ticket.

Learning About Lymphoma

Because there is no screening test available for lymphoma, it is important to understand your risk factors and watch out for symptoms.

"Screening is a test we do with the goal of detecting lymphoma in a very early state," Dr. Elise Chong, medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. "For something to be a good screening test, we need to see that the screening helps people live longer, and helps people have better outcomes."

The causes of lymphoma are not always clear. Here is what we know about the risks.

At this point in their research, doctors have not found evidence that detecting lymphoma early helps patients live longer. "That's the second part of screening that we need to see," Dr. Chong explained. "Because we don't meet those two criteria, we don't have a good screening test for lymphoma yet, although people are certainly working on this."

Treatment and Fatigue

"Fatigue is always a little bit challenging to talk about with patients, and part of that is because it's so subjective," Dr. Manojkumar Bupathi, a medical oncologist at Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, previously told SurvivorNet. Part of the problem is that there is no objective way of measuring fatigue"we don't have a scale or anything like that."

Dr. Manojkumar Bupathi compares the fatigue from chemotherapy to “running a marathon.”

Though treatment aims to kill cancer cells, chemotherapy can damage the body's healthy cells as well, and fatigue can occur as your body tries to repair the damage to healthy cells and tissue. Unfortunately the tiredness tends to accumulate and can become harder and harder to recover from over the course of treatment.

Often, when patients ask me what does fatigue feel like, "I use the analogy of running a marathon," Dr. Bupathi says. "And the reason for that is, people understand what it takes to run a marathon."

Restful Sleep and Light Exercise Can Help

While you shouldn't push yourself if you don't feel well, most doctors tell SurvivorNet that they advise patients to try to get the recommended 7-9 hours of restful sleep, and stay as active as possible. As little as going for a walk every day can make a difference. Exercise doesn't just help manage fatigue, it will keep you in better shape as you endure treatment and help you get back to normal when you're done with treatment. Once chemo is over, doctors say, most patients will regain their old energy.

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