The tumor was huge. Doctors said directly that only immediate surgery may or may not save Krzysiek Nowacki’s life. They warned that he might stop walking, talking and seeing on it. He could not agree to the latter. His son was due to be born in a few months. After all, he must have seen it. He made a bet with death. He saw the son. And he just survived another operation. It has another goal – to help patients like him with glioblastoma – a malignant tumor of the brain.
After several hours of waiting, the door to the operating room of the Poznań hospital at ul. Swiss has opened. The nurse pushed the bed out. Christopher was lying on him and he was trembling all over as if he had fever. Joanna approached her husband.
– I love you! – she said.
Krzysztof slowly looked up and answered in a weak voice: – I love you too.
Joanna will not forget that moment in the hospital corridor. A stone fell from her heart.
– He recognized me, he was aware, and I was so afraid of it. I already knew that I got Krzys back – he confesses.
Brain glioblastoma is a tumor that arises from the glial cells of the brain and spine. Glial cells with neurons are the basic components of the nervous tissue. They have nutritional and protective functions and build the myelin sheaths around the axons of neurons. Unlike neurons, glia retains its ability to divide. This is why there is a risk of developing a tumor from the glial cells. Glioblastoma is 70 percent of intracranial neoplasms.
And everything became secondary
November 1, 2014, All Saints. Joanna and Krzysiek – typical corporate fates. One child, two-year-old Gabrysia, and more on the way. House on credit near Poznań. The couple are planning a small renovation to furnish a room for a new family member. Joanna quickly dresses up because they are to go to the cemetery in her hometown. Krzysiek is reluctant. He has been complaining of a headache for several days.
– I tried to rush him, but he was absent. He spoke indistinctly. He could hardly put on his shoes – Joanna recalls.
Instead of going to their family, they went to the hospital at ul. Lutycka. Doctors gave painkillers, a drip and … ordered Asia Krzysiek to “take”. They reassured that the headache was about to go away and that brain MRI was unnecessary.
– They gave me Krzysiek in a wheelchair and I went to the parking lot in the fifth month of pregnancy with this belly. And… I couldn’t start the car. It was probably a sign from God that Krzyś had to stay in the hospital – he adds.
My parents came to help. They put a fainting Krzysztof in their car. On the way home, he vomited. When getting off he would fall over – these were the beginning of the paralysis of the left side of the body. At home, his condition worsened.
Joanna: – I called the hospital on Swiss road and asked if my husband would be given head tests. I didn’t want a repeat from my previous stay. I was told to come.
The symptoms of glioblastoma depend on what part of the brain it is in. Hearing and speech disorders, visual impairment, sensory disturbances, and paresis may appear. When the tumor is so large that the intracranial pressure increases, the symptoms are always the same: headaches and dizziness, nausea and vomiting, lack of concentration, memory impairment and dementia, and sometimes epileptic episodes.
A deadly butterfly
Expectations for the first tests dragged on mercilessly. Joanna was waiting in the corridor. She had a jacket in front of her. The doctor came up to her and said sharply: – Come into the office. We need to talk.
Joanna came in and put her jacket down on the chair.
– Then the doctor saw that I was pregnant. And as if she let off her fighting tone, she began to stutter. She explained that there are changes in the brain. And that Krzys’ condition is serious, but this will be confirmed by further research – says Nowacka.
Joanna saw pictures of her husband’s brain. A light spot, clearly in the shape of a characteristic butterfly. That means one thing – the suspicion of glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor.
– Would you like to cool down for a while? The doctor asked.
Joanna admits that she had to. She did not want Krzysiek to see her upset. During this time, her husband was given drugs and a drip, almost regaining his former form. When he saw her, he smiled and said reassuringly, “Don’t be nervous.” I have to spend a few days here.
– Yes, I know. I know, she replied.
Glioblastoma multiforme is characterized by high malignancy. It is aggressive – it grows quickly and spreads to nearby parts of the brain. It usually occurs in the temporal and frontal lobes. When in the temporal region, the patient may have depression, anxiety, and memory disorders. And if the tumor is located in the frontal lobe, it can cause aggression.
I will not give you a guarantee
Doctors did not want to wait. In their opinion, only an immediate operation could save his life, because the glioblastoma was growing rapidly. Krzysiek did not want to agree to it. Oncologists have listed the complications that may arise after surgery. The tumor was located in the frontal lobe, in the vicinity of critical places on which life depends. Krzysztof insisted that he would wait until February for the operation.
– To childbirth – he argued.
He relented, however, when the doctor said, “I will not give you a guarantee that you will survive until then.”
In the treatment of glioblastoma, surgical removal of the tumor is most often used first. Often, due to its location in the vicinity of key brain centers, complete excision is impossible. At the same time, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are used. The Gamma Knife® treatment is a revolutionary method of non-invasive treatment. The surgeon doesn’t cut the bones or the brain. Without opening the skull, 192 beams of cobalt radiation are directed at the tumor. Single beams of rays carry little energy and do not damage the tissue they pass through. When they concentrate in one place, their energy accumulates and destroys cancer cells. This treatment has been financed by the National Health Fund for five years.
From joy to nightmare
Two days after being admitted to the hospital at ul. Swiss operation took place. The next morning Joanna came to the hospital again, although the visits started at 12 o’clock. The nurse admitted her to the ward, opening the door said, “My husband is waiting for you.” He’s standing at the door.
She could not believe her eyes, Krzysiek was walking down the corridor with a drip in his hand, supported by a physiotherapist. Only the bandage on the head revealed that Joanna’s husband had undergone brain surgery.
Further treatment included irradiation and “chemistry” in oncology in Garbary in Poznań. Joanna will not forget the moment she went to enroll her husband for the first time.
“I was walking down the hospital corridor and it felt like a nightmare,” she says with difficulty. – Some of the patients sat on the beds dull. Others in the arms of their relatives, as if they were saying goodbye to them. I watched and it felt as if our glioblastoma problem had become a trivial matter.
Two archangels in the house
After several months of therapy, the life of the Nowacki family returned to normal. Krzysztof went to work again. Gabrysia started walking and you had to run after her, and in February 2015 Michał was born. His name was to be Staś, but his mother did not like that name. It was placed on Kacperek. After giving birth, Krzysiek took his son in his arms and said: – The doctor who conducted the operation and saved my life was Michał. Let’s name our son Michał. In the Bible, he is one of the archangels, and he will fit Gabrysia as well.
To London for rescue
In May 2015, the headaches started again. Nowacki explained to themselves that it was definitely exhaustion. Krzysiek often got up at night to see a newborn baby. In July, an MRI confirmed the relapse of the disease. Doctors did not want to intervene yet. In November, Krzysztof went on business.
– He already called me from the way back that I should come to pick him up from the company. The pain cut him off his feet, recalls his wife.
The tumor grew rapidly. He was already 5,5 cm. Krzysiek could have been saved by another operation. Joanna: – Actually, Polish doctors exhausted all methods of saving Krzys. Hope was in London, with Professor Ashkan, a specialist in treating this type of cancer with innovative methods.
Nowacki thought about the ICT-107 vaccine, which is prepared for a specific type of cancer and administered directly to the affected areas. They flew to London in early February. The visit and the stay cost them 5. zloty. However, the cost of the vaccine, over 450 thousand. PLN, he struck the Nowacki family.
Race against death
They did not have time – Krzysiek had weeks to live. The tumor was 6,5 cm long. As suggested by a London specialist, they chose a cheaper treatment option – removal of the tumor, and in places where it is impossible to operate – the application of the so-called gliadel wafers with “chemistry”.
It was supposed to cost over 180 thousand. zlotys. Krzysztof and Joanna did not have that kind of money, but they had a month to collect it.
– We’ve never organized a fundraiser, Joanna recalls. – And then Krzyś’s colleague from his company called and asked me to write an appeal to start the action. Lots of people joined in.
The amount grew day by day. The response was unexpectedly large. On February 26, Joanna wrote on the FB profile – “You gave us Faith and strength to fight, you gave us faith in people and energy to act! Thanks to you, we can go for this operation and collect security for a stay in the hospital, funds for transport and subsequent treatment.
Asia and Krzyś “.
The patient has a dream
London, March 3, 2016. Joanna is waiting again in front of the operating room, this time in a London hospital. Krzysiek’s brother also came to the hospital. After leaving the operating room, the doctors said there were no complications. Krzysiek quickly got out of bed again.
In the case of glioblastoma, the prognosis depends mainly on the degree of malignancy. The lower the grade, the better the prognosis. Patients with grade I glioma, such as hair cell astrocytoma, are 17 times more likely to survive than others. Ten years after diagnosis, less than half of the patients are alive.
After her husband’s surgery, Joanna had to return to Poznań – to her children. She went to get Krzysiek on March 17. And after two weeks he was able to see the children again. When Gabrysia saw her father, she stuck to him. Joanna: – She kissed his hands. All day she did not leave her step. I did not think that such a small child can miss you so much.
The next day, a flood of guests passed through their house. Now it’s time for chemotherapy, but already in place in Poland. Since his return from London, Krzysztof has been taking care of children. She often goes for walks with them. He jokes that for his illness he feels great. And he already has a new resolution to fulfill: – To help people with a disease like mine.
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