Leukemia is killing me. I am close to the very last chance to fight cancer. Will you help me ?

As today I’m telling you about my struggle, so much I would love to tell you one day how I have fought and won. Leukemia is killing me, literally I feel  as life is coming out. I do want to stop this, but cannot do that on my own any longer… I didn’t want to go to hospice and wait to die. I started to search for innovative treatment CAR-T-CELL  and hospital that that can offer this very last chance. I am still ready to fight cancer and don’t want to give up. Now the hospital in Israel is my chance to receive a therapy that gives a good chance of a full recovery.   

I do believe this is not the end. Not yet.

Although my life was fun and I enjoyed it very much today I’m telling you only about recent events, dying and my fight for life, as life is most important now… It all started on 23rd August 2015, pain in ribs, sharp pain in the back (lumbar spine), physiotherapists and massages that didn’t help at all. Then numerous appointments at neurologists and orthopedists, wrong diagnoses and I was moving with stronger and stronger pain. Soon I couldn’t even get dressed, the pain spread to the entire skeleton, and as it turned out later I had been moving with compressions in chest and lumbar spine.

On 1st October 2015 I went to hospital to have a computer tomography done. After some hours the doctor came and said ‘It is really serious”. One day after my birthday – such a present. Different medical tests, but  morphology is OK -zero deviations, but the skeleton is destroyed – holes in every single bone from toes to skull, as in multiple myeloma. That is the first option, but something was wrong.

I spent a few days at the ward – ketonal and a biopsy from the most damaged part of spine. Without any diagnosis I was sent home having an orthopedic corsetry that held my spine in one piece. One month later a biopsy result came – no significant pathology. Further searching, possible reasons - thyroid gland, prostate etc. Another hospital and next biopsy this time from the lumbar part. Three weeks of expectation and the result came – 40 % cancer infiltration. Diagnosis - lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma. Morphology still all right, only pain in bones. Without fear but with strong will to fight I went to hospital and on 11th November I got the first chemotherapy in my life…

After chemotherapy a success came – a complete remission, cancer defeated. The doctors offered transplant. There were 25 % of chance that my younger brother could help. Unfortunately he couldn’t. Further cycles of chemotherapy, a month at hospital, a month at home and nervous searching for a donor. I received 3 consolidation and 6 maintaining treatments and one year of peace – no symptoms of cancer and huge hope that chemotherapy succeeded.

Then out of a sudden all collapsed as a house of cards – fever, pain in bones, bad feeling – I was right. Another biopsy, one month of waiting and the result – 90 % of bone marrow infiltration with cancer. Reinduction treatment, months spent between hospital and home. In the meantime, new haploidentical transplant method appeared. Again my brother could help, in theory he matched. Further cycles of chemotherapy to fight cancer and preparation for transplant that was originally planned on 11th June 2017. Time accelerated extremely. Morphology was really bad, so the doctors decided to give blood transfusions, but how many of them could I receive?

Few days before a bone marrow transplant my brother was definitely excluded as a donor. A desperate search for another donor started. Fortunately, the donor appeared – 9/10 match, woman, 43 years. At that point cancer returned, again 90% of bone marrow infiltration. Mega dose chemotherapy, radiation and a rescue transplant after which I received not even 6 months of peace.

January 2018 – a déjà vu  – fevers and pain in bones again, biopsy and … 80 % of bone marrow infiltration. All methods of chemotherapy and radiotherapy have been used. The doctors decide to do DLI  - donor lymphocyte infusion. Another chance to fight, but to my despair the donor was deleted from the donors’ base. She could not help this time.

There are no further options of treatment available in Poland, but in Israel I still have a chance. Before the disease I was strong, well-built and didn’t think I could ever be seriously ill. Now I’m facing the death that is lurking for me every day. I hope that thanks to Your help I can write a happy ending to my story.

Oskar