Together for Antek – let’s help him get back on his feet and win with cancer❗️

What do you think about when you are 24 years old and you suddenly start feeling dizzy while dancing with your beloved one during a course? Probably about happiness and endorphins. But what if the dizziness does not pass? You have to see a doctor. He refers you for an MRI scan... It is January 2021. The MRI image shows abnormalities in the brain but the doctors are not sure... is it a tumour?

Maybe some changes after COVID-19 that Antek contracted when he was coming back home from an international competition for lawyers with his prize? A biopsy is necessary. We consulted many neurosurgeons – each of them said the same: “A biopsy in this localisation is very risky, not to mention a surgery”. At last, a doctor in Bydgoszcz decides to conduct a diagnostic procedure. The time when we are waiting for a diagnosis is filled with tension.

The results are clear: astrocytoma, inoperative, with infiltration to the brainstem. Additionally, the tumour has a low degree of methylation which further limits the possibilities of treatment. The next month was filled with a long stay at hospital, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Worse days intermingle with better days and hope that treatment will help and bring results...And it comes true – the therapy is working and helping.

For the next 3 years, Antek attempts to resume his “normal life”. He graduates from law school, starts post-graduate studies, goes to work, learns Dutch in his free time and prepares for his Ph.D. exam. Every three months he has an MRI scan.

Year 2024. Everything is fine. But something starts happening again. When we think that the worst is behind us, he finds it difficult to walk. In August, he was able to cover a distance of couple of kilometres on a bike to visit his 6-month-old nephew, in September, he needs crutches for support. Within 3 months, he switches to a walker, and then to a wheelchair. Antek goes with his fiancée to the ER. This time the MRI scan does not include his head but his spine...

Diagnosis: two tumours in the spinal canal. We are asking ourselves – what else will Antek have to fight against? In October,  an urgent neurosurgery is conducted – the bigger tumour is removed but its compression caused ischemic injury. Antek hoped that after the surgery he will be able to ride a bike and walk again. Unfortunately he is paralysed from his waist down. During the first weeks, he cannot even sit without assistance.

January 2025, Antek is in a neurological rehabilitation centre. Soon, he should be able to move from a bed to a wheelchair entirely on his own. He is learning to use a wheelchair and trying to get used to this new life, full of limitations. He exercises as much as he can – with physiotherapists and on his own. He is fully motivated. Not only parents and friends admire him, but also health professionals and physiotherapists.

Test results show that further treatment is needed – surgery as well as radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Antek does not give up. Until recently, he had been helping in a foundation supporting the disabled, and now, he himself wants to be as independent as possible. His treatment during these four years was very expensive. Antek still has to face a huge challenge – fight with cancer and continue rehabilitation.

In a couple of days we should receive pathological report from a clinic in Heidelberg. In the current situation, Antek needs a substantial support to buy specialist equipment, continue costly neurological rehabilitation and treatment, also abroad.

We are asking for any kind of support. Together we can help him recover, go back to work, to the mountains and to the seaside.

Antoni’s parents, brothers, and Dominika