More and more people in Poland suffer from skin cancer. Every year, approximately four thousand new cases are diagnosed in Poland. The incidence of melanoma is increasing much faster than other cancers. We should definitely avoid bright sun, use sunscreen and examine every, even the smallest, change on the skin.
If Mrs. Justyna had won the lottery, it would not have meant the end of the dramatic situation, but it would have helped her cope with it.
– I feel lost, terrified of what awaits me, of what is happening, of what may happen – says Justyna Wachulak. The mother of three has been suffering from melanoma for four years. It started with a persistent mole on the back of my head. The next stages of treatment did not work.
– I am on oral chemotherapy and this cancer is freeing itself from the effects of these tablets, for now gradually and slowly, but it will progress, unfortunately – says Justyna Wachulak.
– We heard the diagnosis that these drugs simply don't work anymore, that this is the end. This thought was difficult. I can't give up, I just know that there are possibilities, so I have to try, says Ewelina Banach, Justyna Wachulak's daughter.
A chance for treatment in Israel
Mrs. Justyna is given a chance by a clinic in Tel Aviv. Despite the unsettled situation in the region, planes still fly to Israel. Therapy in the United States would be more expensive.
– There is no therapy in Poland yet, such as in Israel, that would enable patients like me to continue treatment – points out Justyna Wachulak.
Unfortunately, this treatment is too expensive for a mother raising her children alone. $125,000 – this is the cost of the therapy consisting in collecting and multiplying lymphocytes in the laboratory and applying them to the body to fight cancer. In addition, there are additional fees for tests, melanoma removal, transportation between individual stages of treatment and accommodation after therapy, when the patient will have to be there for consultations.
– We don't have that kind of money ourselves. What I save, what my mother saved, are still pennies compared to what we have to collect, says Emilia Banach. That's why we started an online collection. – Someone is constantly donating money and this gives us incredible hope that it will work out, that the money will be in this account, that my mother will go abroad and this will be cured – she adds.
The amount needed is almost PLN 767,000. Hundreds of people join the campaign to help Mrs. Justyna. – There were collections organized in our village by the village headwoman, and the topic of harvest festivals at the harvest festival came up. The mayor agreed. Of course, also for collections of the housewives' association. Every zloty, as we say, counts – says Piotr Wachulak, Justyna Wachulak's brother.
– She is a nurse by profession. She has been working in Warsaw for 25 years, at the tuberculosis institute, in intensive care, where she really helps other people by working hard – emphasizes Bożena Bober, Justyna Wachulak's former sister-in-law.
More and more people are suffering from melanoma
On Sunday, relatives, friends and strangers from Radzyń Podlaski organized a picnic for her. 600 kilograms of cakes baked by local residents were sold in front of local churches.
– We never know whether we will need this help – says Ewelina Samorańska, a participant of the “For Justyna” charity picnic.
The delicacies are also distributed by schools that Mrs. Justyna's children attended or still attend.
– They need this mother, I am a mother myself and I cannot imagine how I would leave them, how I could abandon them. Let's help her – appeals Bożena Bober.
More and more people are suffering from melanoma, and approximately four thousand new cases are diagnosed in Poland every year. – Its incidence is increasing much more than that of other cancers, so it is a real threat that affects virtually all of us – informs Dr. Hab. Alina Jankowska-Konsur from the University Center of General and Oncological Dermatology in Wrocław.
Prevention
– We have different causes, we have genetic factors and environmental factors. In fact, the prevention of melanoma and other skin cancers is photoprotection, because that's the only thing we can influence – says the doctor. Marta Koper from the Dermatology and Venereology Clinic of the Białystok Oncology Center.
We can and should avoid the bright sun in summer, especially between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Remember to wear sunglasses with a UV filter and cover your head, but also other so-called sun terraces, e.g. shoulders or arms. Protective creams with a high factor are best applied every two hours.
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– Acute skin burns, especially in childhood, or acute intermittent exposure to the sun, for example trips to the tropics in autumn and winter, when our skin is not hardened, contribute to the incidence of melanoma – he mentions Alina Jankowska-Konsur.
Doctors recommend that skin changes be checked in the office regularly, every year. Not every dangerous change causes concern at first glance.
– Melanoma as a cancer, it is always changing – says the doctor. Marta Koper.
Therefore, especially when the mole is asymmetrical, has uneven, jagged edges, we are concerned about its color, it is getting larger and suddenly changes – you cannot wait to visit a dermatologist. Melanomas detected at an early stage are completely curable.