«The doctor’s words are the worst experience in my life. Worse than a cancer diagnosis »

“Forget about motherhood, we are prophylactically cutting out everything” – 34-year-old Aneta heard from the oncologist, also learning that she had cervical cancer. “The day I heard it from a doctor I remember it as the worst experience in my life, worse than a cancer diagnosis,” she admits today. Although the doctor clearly made her understand that the time had come for a drastic verification of her life plans, Ms. Aneta did not give up.

1. Ms. Aneta heard from the doctor that cervical cancer is cured in her, but she will not be able to become a mother anymore. According to the oncologist, there was no other solution
2. It turned out, however, that an alternative exists – it is surgery to remove the cervical cancer using the da Vinci robot
3. Thanks to the Hospital in Klinach in Krakow, Ms. Aneta underwent the procedure for free
4. Each month, the Hospital on Klinach can perform about 10 free surgeries with the use of the da Vinci robot
5. European funds will be sufficient for gynecological cancer surgeries by mid-2023. How can the program be used? In agreement with the facility, we provide details
6. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

An experience worse than just having a cancer diagnosis

We arrange an interview right after Easter, exactly two weeks after Aneta’s surgery. An operation thanks to which she got rid of cancer and kept the chances of having a baby. Now she is starting to think about motherhood again, but differently… this time seriously like never before.

«It is one thing to make an informed decision about having a child, and another to find out from a doctor that there will no longer be such a possibility. I remember the day when I heard it from the doctor’s mouth as the worst experience in my life, worse than the diagnosis of cancer, »she admits today. The oncologist informed her then that there was no alternative for her. It turned out, however, that there was another way out.

The rest of the text below the video.

She heard that there was a chance of a cure, but not having a baby – none

A few years ago, Aneta was diagnosed with cervical dysplasia, which is a precancerous condition. Therefore, the woman regularly visited the gynecologist, performed cytology, and recently also magnetic resonance imaging. After his results, the oncologist stated that the patient had a chance to be cured, but not giving birth to a child. Together with his partner, however, they did not give up and kept looking.

1. Doctors call it a disease of welfare. “The patient blamed the sedentary work and it was cancer”

Eventually they found their way to Dr. Maciej Olszewski, a gynecologist from Szpital na Klinach in Krakow. The medic specializes in robotic surgeries of gynecological cancers, including cervical cancer and endometrial cancer. Ms Aneta is another patient of the Krakow hospital who underwent radical trachelectomy with the use of the da Vinci robot (such operations are performed only in a few centers in Europe). Dr. Olszewski explains that such operations are performed in patients with invasive cervical cancer with a tumor diameter of less than or equal to 2 cm.

And yet there is an alternative – the operation involving the da Vinci robot

“The radical trachelectomy procedure is an example of the heroism of the oncologist, whose task is to remove the cervical cancer, but who at the same time wants to satisfy the patient’s expectations and hopes for maintaining the chance for fertility and giving birth to a child in the future” – admits the specialist.

Photo Hospital in Kliny

The doctor emphasizes that the trachelectomy procedure with the use of the da Vinci robot is very “technically” complex. «It consists in the removal of the cervix, bilateral parametriums and the vaginal cuff with a healthy tissue margin, leaving the uterine body. During the operation, bilateral ilio-obturator lymph nodes are also removed, but the appendages, i.e. the ovaries and fallopian tubes, are spared. After the amputation of the cancer-affected cervix, the uterine body is sutured with the vagina. In the future, pregnancy may develop in the uterine cavity »- says Dr. Maciej Olszewski.

“I will not waste the chance I have been given to have a child”

Mrs. Aneta wanted not only to save herself, but also to preserve the possibility of conceiving a new life. The need for a child is extremely strong for her. «Now I am thinking about the chance I have been given to have a child. I certainly won’t waste it »he says. It was the hope for a child that cemented her relationship with her partner, and both of them are waiting for the longed-for child.

The woman points out that the Kraków Szpital na Klinach differs from the facilities she has visited so far. «Here you are taken care of at every step. You can talk to a doctor who will explain everything to you patiently. You can also eat a baked chicken with broccoli. Who saw such food in the hospital! » – laughs.

Photo Hospital in Kliny

Free Cervical Cancer Treatment – How To Use The Program

The Krakow Hospital in Klinach implements a program of surgical treatment of cervical and endometrial cancer using the da Vinci robot. Thanks to a subsidy from the European Union, patients from all over Poland, but also from abroad (including Ukraine) can take advantage of these treatments free of charge.

Each month, the hospital can perform about 10 free operations with the use of da Vinci. European funds will be sufficient for gynecological cancer surgeries until mid-2023. «We have been implementing the program of treatments in the field of gynecological oncology financed by the EU since 2021. As part of the project, we have been approached by about 150 women suffering from endometrial and cervical cancer. We operated on patients aged 25-85 »- says Dr. Maciej Olszewski.

Maciej Olszewski, MD, PhD, gynecologist oncologist

Modern medicine offers many treatment options, which is even more confirmed by the statement that cancer is not a sentence. However, it should be remembered that the time in which we start treatment is very important. Prevention, systematic visits to the gynecologist, consultation of disturbing symptoms, such as bleeding or backache, are of great importance. Pap tests are essential in the prevention of cervical cancer.

The project carried out at the Szpital na Klinach in Krakow is a unique undertaking in Poland, the aim of which is precision in performing the procedure of tumor removal and at the same time maintaining the patient’s quality of life after the procedure. The expected significant benefits of the program include: less pain, less intraoperative bleeding, fewer intra- and postoperative complications.

1. Cytology – course, results, interpretation. When to do a Pap test?

The possibility of using the da Vinci robot in surgical treatment is also particularly important for patients with a significant degree of obesity, for whom the healing of postoperative wounds after the application of classical surgery is particularly difficult.

The text was written in cooperation with Szpital na Klinach.