My life cannot end at the age of 27! I am begging you, please, help me!

Until recently, I had been an ordinary girl with million dreams in her head. I never thought that everything can fall apart so quickly – that my whole life would be closed between four walls of the hospital room and that my greatest dream would be simply to survive...

At first, I thought it was just a common cold. I was feeling a bit off, my neck was painful and I was tired – nothing concerning. But after a couple of days and further tests I heard the words I will never forget: “Hodgkin lymphoma, lymphatic system cancer.” It was like time had stopped. Everything I knew ceased to exist.

I started treatment with great hope that chemotherapy would help and the disease would subside. I went through six chemotherapy cycles. Each of them was damaging my body and soul more and more. I was losing my hair, strength, appetite, and each day, a little bit of faith that it all makes sense. After many months filled with pain, I was told that the treatment was not working and the cancer cells were still active.

We tried stronger, more aggressive chemotherapy but it also was not successful. The doctors told me that the lymphoma was resistant to treatment – it means that it does not respond to the traditional methods of treatment. It sounded like life sentence...

I felt as if my world was collapsing around me. However, I could not give up. With the help of my friends and good-hearted people, I managed to go to Israel with my Mum where the doctors offered an advanced biological treatment and stem cell transplant. For the first time in months someone told me that there was still a chance.

It was the little spark that I needed. Unfortunately, the costs of the treatment and transplant are too high for our small family. My Mum is doing everything she can to save me but after my father’s death, who passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are alone. We have no one who could help us financially.

After my father’s death, Mum could not put herself together. I remember that time... Silence that settled in our home and the tears that she was trying to hide from me. Now, when I can see the same pain in Mum’s eyes, I am heartbroken.

I want her to be able to look at me and see a healthy daughter, not a girl with an IV in a hospital bed. She cannot lose a beloved person again, I will not allow it. I do not want her to be alone and to go through the mourning and emptiness that no one is able to cope with once more. 

I cannot accept the fact that my fate depends on money. Please, help me raise the funds needed for the treatment. Each zloty, each good word mean more than just help – they are a proof that I am not alone in this fight.

Alexandra