It was just a birthmark on the back. He had them for many years. But only when something started to leak out of him did he see a doctor.
Dorota and Jan Gębscy from Podkarpacie are religious people.
– We have just returned from the Charity Pilgrimage to Italy for Janek. We prayed for health for him, says the touched woman. How many masses and how many rosaries were whispered for her husband, he will not count.
– Some people have faith in themselves, others trust in God. We have entrusted everything to God and … we are doing our best to make Janek survive the next day, month, year … We have two small children who need a father. I can’t imagine my life without him.
Bad leak
– I’ve had an approximately three-centimeter mole on my back for as long as I can remember. I didn’t care about him because he never bothered me. I don’t have any other specific birthmarks on my body. I have never been a fan of tanning either. When mowing the grass or doing something outdoors in the heat, the man took off his shirt. But right after that, he hid into the shadows, rested, says 49-year-old Jan.
Dorota, a dozen or so years younger than Janek, adds: – I was not bothered by this mark of Janek. The problem started when something started to leak out of it. Some bloody goo staining the shirts. I then told my husband to remove it. It never occurred to us that this could be dangerous. When the results of the histopathological examinations came with the information that cancer cells were detected in the nevus, we were distrustful.
The result was unequivocal. Stage IV malignant melanoma – the worst. The ordeal began.
– First, they cut out patches of skin in the place where the birthmark was and around it – says Janek. – I have a notebook-sized scar in there. The lady asks if I had any symptoms before? Apart from the leakage, I did not feel any discomfort. I was convinced that there was an irritation, some infection, and with the removal of the birthmark, it would be over. Unfortunately this did not happen. This tumor is extremely invasive. Metastasis occurs quickly. To the lymph nodes, the lungs, the brain … I know that now, but at the beginning of the treatment I knew almost nothing about melanoma.
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of the skin. It comes from melanocytes, cells that produce a pigment called melanin that causes the skin to darken when it comes into contact with ultraviolet light. Melanomas most often appear on the skin, but can also occur in the mouth, nose or eyeball.
Melanoma is characterized by aggressive growth and early and numerous metastases, which are difficult to treat pharmacologically. Meanwhile, removing melanoma, when the disease is not yet advanced, allows you to cure as much as 80 percent. sick. That is why it is so important to recognize it quickly and correctly.
Every year in Poland there are approximately 50 new cases of skin cancer. Of these, about 000-2500 are cases of melanoma, the number doubles every 3000 years.
Thank you for chemistry
At the beginning of 2014, more than two years after the onset of the disease, Jan was given chemotherapy.
– After surgical treatment, a sentinel node was removed, then most of the groin lymph nodes were excised and I was calm for a while. When the cancer attacked again (metastasis on the kidney appeared), I started treatment in Warsaw, where thanks to excellent doctors, I had genetic tests done on time and thanks to this I was qualified for the treatment program with the preparation under the trade name Zelboraf – says Janek.
The family had high hopes for the new treatment. Janek was a strong man. Before he fell ill, he did sports and ate well. He never complained of feeling unwell. He was a cheerful, cheerful man.
– Unfortunately, the drug stopped working after six months of taking the tablets. I felt weaker and weaker. New metastases appeared – this time in the mediastinum. All the doctors could do then was send me for chemotherapy.
At the beginning of 2014, once a week, Dorota took her husband to a hospital in Rzeszów for an infusion of chemicals. At the hospital, first blood sampling, then the line to the doctor’s office for the examination. After the examination, with a referral in hand, the next queue – for registration. The hours drag on mercilessly. People nervous, sick, exhausted. Finally, the nurse checks to see if she has a free bed in the room. Is. A drip can be connected.
– It lasted for several weeks – says Dorota. – But the chemistry didn’t help. Anyone who knows about melanoma knows that it is very resistant to chemotherapy or radiation. So the tumor in the kidney was growing. In addition, my husband experienced severe side effects. The worst part was nerve damage in the hands and feet, the so-called polyneuropathy.
– I felt terrible. I was depressed. I couldn’t do anything on my own. Even the spoons to my mouth… I think the doctors may have given me too much. They did not take into account the fact that when I started the therapy, I weighed 10 kilograms less than at the beginning of the disease. I was given a dose adjusted to 85 kilos and I was 75.
Early skin melanoma is very easy to heal by simple surgical excision of the lesion along with a wide margin of surrounding tissue. In the case of larger melanomas, more than 1 mm thick (deep into the skin), a biopsy of the lymph nodes closest to the tumor is performed. If there are neoplastic cells in the collected nodes, it is necessary to completely excise them and start systemic treatment. There are different treatments for advanced melanoma:
- Chemotherapy – is based on the use of cyclostats, which inhibit the multiplication of cancer cells.
- Radiotherapy – consists in the application of electromagnetic radiation. High frequency causes damage to cancer cells. This method is painless, but the procedure requires even several dozen repetitions.
- Immunotherapy – a modern therapy, which consists in stimulating the patient’s immune system against cancer cells.
- Targeted therapy – consists in administering a drug that is molecularly targeted, ie it blocks specific mechanisms or receptors of neoplastic cells.
Light in the tunnel
The Gębski family started looking for help on their own. They plowed the internet across the length and breadth in search of information on how to help Janek, where and how they could cure him.
– Which we did not do by the way – says Dorota. – We have completely changed our diet to organic in order to eat healthier. I made nettles juices and baked my own bread. The husband himself, thanks to his own devices, exercised for hours and hours inefficient hands and feet. He wanted to strengthen the body. We learned to live day by day and… we prayed. On March 2014, XNUMX, a law was introduced that allows the NHF to reimburse treatment with Ipilimumab under the trade name Yervoy, which has already helped many patients with melanoma. Unfortunately, Janek did not qualify. It just did not meet one of the many required standards: it had other paths of treatment behind it, and Yervoy is prescribed as first-degree treatment.
On my own
Since October 2014, the Gębski family have been organizing fundraisers for the purchase of Yervoy for Janek (details at www.zbieramynalekdlajanka.pl).
They needed PLN 360 for four doses that would be administered three weeks apart. About 80 zlotys are still missing.
– When we started the campaign, I did not expect that so many wonderful people would decide to help us. That it would be possible to collect so much money in such a short time. I am very grateful to everyone, says the touched woman.
And although Janek has not yet taken the first dose, because the doctors hold back the decision to give it until the cancer becomes active again (then the success of the treatment is to be the greatest), the Gębski family are finally sleeping more peacefully.
– I realize that I am like a ticking bomb. On the one hand, the disease seems to have fallen asleep. This is often the case with melanoma. However, I have to be very vigilant because this tumor attacks unexpectedly and then it works quickly. After all, life is at stake.
Anyone can develop a cutaneous melanoma. Due to their fair complexion, Poles are highly exposed to melanoma. The steady and significant increase (300% in the last 20 years) in the number of cases confirms that our nation is in a high-risk group. The risk of developing melanoma increases in people:
– With fair skin, red or blonde hair, blue eyes, numerous freckles,
– A large number of pigmented nevi, nevi in the places of irritation,
– Who suffered sunburn, especially in childhood,
– poorly tolerating the sun, sunbathing with great difficulty or not at all,
– People staying in full sun for more than an hour a day,
– who have a family history of melanoma or other skin cancers
– Using the solarium.
Always use appropriate SPF creams when exposed to the sun’s rays.
If it turns out that you are in a higher risk group or you find that you have any disturbing symptoms, indicating the possibility of melanoma, you should immediately see a specialist.
In order to improve the diagnosis, it is worth considering a few issues before the visit:
– Do you sunbathe often?
– Do you use sunscreen when sunbathing?
– Have you ever suffered a sunburn and was it in your childhood?
– Has anyone in your family suffered from melanoma?
– Have you ever suffered a mechanical trauma to a birthmark?
– How long ago did the birthmark appear?
– Have any of the birthmarks changed recently?
The text uses materials from the website www.akademiaczerniaka.pl