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– I found out about cancer and broke down. I couldn’t believe it had come now. When I finally got my life together. When I have a husband, a child, I am pregnant. I completely did not know what to do next – remembers Katarzyna Wujczyk Boodie, who heard from a doctor that she had breast cancer and had to consider an abortion. She did not decide on it. A few days ago, she gave birth to a son.
We are meeting in Wrocław, the University Teaching Hospital at ul. Borowska. In the hospital cafe, a smiling girl is sitting in front of me. He has large, gray, merry eyes. It radiates energy. Only the hat on her head reveals that Kasia has undergone chemotherapy. I am about to know the story of her life.
Colorful Children
The first important event in adult life? South America, Suriname. – I was 22 years old, I went there with my partner at the time. After five years, Samiloby was born. Three years later, I returned to Poland with my daughter. Alone – remembers Kasia. They lived in one of Wrocław’s estates. The girl went to kindergarten. – Sami, because that’s what I call my daughter, she had no problems. They started when she went to school – adds Katarzyna. At school, the girl was the only child with a dark complexion. The taunts began. Katarzyna posted a post called “Colorful Children” on Facebook. It was an appeal, Sami was looking for friends with dark skin. – There is an avalanche. It turned out that not only we have this problem. And that’s how I founded the Colorful Children organization. – says Katarzyna Wujczyk Boodie. Soon, she created the project Embassy of Tolerance and visited kindergartens with her daughter all over Poland to teach the youngest respect for other people, including those of a different skin color, by playing together. Katarzyna: – It was special, because it was Sami who spoke about tolerance, as a black girl she shared her experience.
Dreams come true
Two years ago, Catherine took her daughter to Suriname to meet her father. The meeting was not successful, but it changed a lot in the lives of Kasia and Sami. Katarzyna met her current husband there. – I left Suriname, and years later I married a Surinamese who lived with me in Poland – Katarzyna laughs. And she adds: – Everything was fine, the daughter became friends with her husband, he is her real dad. And in August last year, while on vacation by the sea, I found out that I was pregnant. It was a wonderful holiday and we were very happy.
The mood was not disturbed even by the fact that a few days before vacation I noticed some small change in the left breast. Before going to the seaside, I went to the doctor to check it. An ultrasound scan showed nothing but cysts that were checked regularly. The doctor advised me to see an oncologist just in case. I made an appointment after my return.
Another breast ultrasound scan showed a tumor. The core needle biopsy was unequivocal: breast cancer.
– When I found out about the disease, I broke down. I couldn’t believe it came to me. After so many years, when I finally put my life in order, when I am happy and fulfilled, I found out that I am pregnant. It’s been such a beautiful time for me and I find out that I have cancer. I thought: this could not happen to me. I didn’t know what to do next – he says.
She began looking for doctors who could help in this situation. – I did not think about an abortion, although doctors do. They explained to me what the threats are. They asked if I wanted to terminate my pregnancy. I did not want. I am 38 years old and this is the last moment to have a baby – he explains.
In search of a doctor
First, she diagnosed herself in Wrocław, then in Gliwice. – In Gliwice, doctors suggested starting treatment with chemotherapy in the 12th week of pregnancy. However, a gynecological consultation was needed. I lacked confirmation and consent to start chemotherapy. I couldn’t find a doctor in Wrocław who would guide my pregnancy, taking into account oncological treatment. It was a difficult moment – he recalls.
Katarzyna: – In the meantime, my friend told me about the Rak’n ‘Roll foundation, that she had read about the Divine Mothers project, i.e. pregnant women with cancer. She said: «Kaśka, write to them, maybe they will help you”. So I sent an e-mail one day and a reply came the next. Marta Ozimek, the coordinator of the Divine Mothers program from the Rak’n’Roll Foundation, spoke up. She told how the foundation works, how it helps women who are pregnant and diagnosed with cancer. She promised to organize a meeting in Warsaw so that I could talk to the oncologist about further treatments, and to a gynecologist who has experience in managing pregnant women with cancer. I consulted my results by e-mail with Dr. Jerzy Giermek from the Oncology Center in Warsaw, a doctor who has the greatest experience in guiding mothers like me in Poland.
– The experience of Dr. Squire, because he had a lot of these patients, shows that the chemicals do not get to the child. The placenta does not let her through until the 35th week of pregnancy and healthy babies are born. I know it now, I didn’t know it then – says Katarzyna.
The Rak’n’Roll Foundation organized a visit to a gynecologist and an oncologist in Warsaw. – That one day gave me the feeling that it was possible to reconcile my illness with giving birth to a child. I was struck by the fact that these doctors cooperate with each other, they are on the lines, they call each other. It was a different quality. Earlier, I missed such a sense of care very much – says the patient.
It was established that Katarzyna will receive chemotherapy after the 15th week of pregnancy, because it is safer for the baby. She took the first chemistry course in Warsaw in November last year.
Divine Mothers appear
Katarzyna: – I had a great mental crisis when I went to Warsaw for my first chemotherapy. I was counting on not getting it. I asked for some additional tests. I cried all the time. But in the end I had to confront the disease, I saw that I would not run away anymore, that there was no other option. I couldn’t cope with it to such an extent that for the first time in my life, because I’m rather hard art, I asked a psychologist for help.
– And on that very day, two Divine Mothers appeared in the hospital, who have already given birth to their children – continues Katarzyna. – Natalia came for consultations, Magda took another chemotherapy. They knew I was lying there. It was amazing, even magical. They dropped by before the psychologist’s visit and got me on my feet within five minutes. I didn’t need a psychologist anymore. Magda said that she gave birth to a healthy daughter a month ago, that she has three more drugs to take.
The women took chemistry together. – She mine, I mine. We laughed that I was taking bloody Mery because I was taking red chemistry, and she was taking gin and tonic because she was getting a different one. Then I returned home, to Wrocław, after a week my hair started to fall out. It was another very difficult moment – recalls the patient.
Unexplained phenomenon
Katarzyna took seven series of chemotherapy, all planned by the doctors. She took the treatments well, she did not vomit, she felt great. – It is not fully understood why chemotherapy is very good for pregnant women. Apart from the fact that my hair fell out, I felt very well after the chemo. On the other hand, girls who continue treatment after termination suffer from chemotherapy-related problems, and they tolerate it worse than during pregnancy – says Katarzyna. – It is not known why. Maybe that is why they call us the Divine Mothers? – laughs.
Katarzyna has already taken the last chemotherapy courses in Wrocław, and here she also decided to solve it. – The doctor who led me in Warsaw asked his friend in Wrocław to look after me. This is how I met Dr. Lepka, who led me through my pregnancy, and we saw each other quite often before and after chemotherapy, I got very good care on the spot from him – he says.
Co dalej?
On Wednesday, April 5, Jason’s longed-for son, Jason Jordan, was born by caesarean section. – I am the first Divine Color Mother. Because so far in the Rak’n’Roll Foundation it has never happened that a child from a mixed relationship in Poland was born after chemotherapy – jokes Katarzyna.
In three weeks, she will have a mastectomy and lymphadenectomy. – Then we’ll see what happens next, if the chemotherapy killed the cancer cells – he explains. She will also have to undergo radiation therapy and rehabilitation. “The type of cancer I have is hormone-dependent, so I’ll have to inject for another year because the doctors have to put me into an artificial menopause.” Hormone therapy is another five years. It was the last moment to give birth to a child. That is why I am so grateful to the Rak’n ‘Roll Foundation – he says.
Katarzyna tries to see good things in the whole situation. She explains: – I realized that the disease begins and ends in our head. What we do with it is up to us. Will we have the strength to face it, to go further. I thought that since the disease came to me, it was so that I could do something for girls who are in a similar situation. The Rak’n’Roll Foundation paves all the way, but it is happening in Warsaw. It should be the same in other cities. I want to do something about it.
To begin with, Katarzyna agreed to become the face of the Rak’n’Roll Foundation in the 1% campaign. tax «Mother, pregnancy and cancer. Will you help save two lives? » – I am beginning to be on the Internet, in newspapers, in a moment I will be on billboards all over Poland – he says. – I became more humble to myself, to life, cancer reevaluated my entire system so far, it showed what is important to me. Maybe it’s just a sign: ‘Change your attitude towards yourself. It’s time to wake up ». I believe that if it is approached this way, the disease can help us move on to the next stage, and it does not necessarily have to be death right away. I believe that what is coming is life, a new quality of it that I have not been able to notice before. It was only my illness that helped me. This attitude gives you strength.
Katarzyna wants to convey to women in a similar situation that chemotherapy can be reconciled with pregnancy. Last year, 60 pregnant patients with cancer passed through the Rak’n’Roll Foundation. – They all gave birth to healthy babies. Of course, their further fate depends on the type of cancer – says Katarzyna. – But pregnancy and cancer are compatible.
JJ who heals
Katarzyna’s husband decided that he would name his son. He had many offers, some – as Katarzyna claims – difficult to pronounce. Eventually he chose the name Jason. – Earlier my friend, when she found out that I was pregnant, said that there would be a new Jordan, because my husband is a solid man, he is two meters tall. And that’s how Jason Jordan, that is JJ, was left – explains Katarzyna.
And she adds: – My daughter’s name is Samiloby, which in Surinamese means “everything that I love”. On the internet, I typed “the meaning of the name Jason” in Dutch. I couldn’t believe what I saw. “He heal” is displayed on the screen.
There is still a long treatment ahead of Katarzyna Wujczyk Boodie. She will need funds for drugs, hand rehabilitation after lymph node excision, breast surgery. You can support her financially through the application https://omenaa.pl/pl/project/details/81 where her profile was created.
There is still a long treatment ahead of Katarzyna Wujczyk Boodie. She will need funds for drugs, hand rehabilitation after lymph node excision, breast surgery. You can support her financially through the application https://omenaa.pl/pl/project/details/81 where her profile was created.
Rak’n’Roll Foundation: http://www.raknroll.pl/