The tumor was 14 centimeters. Amelka was only two and a half years old❗.

Tormenting abdominal pain

In June 2019, just 2.5-year-old Amelka began complaining of severe abdominal pain. The first medical consultation resulted in a diagnosis of cystitis and the implementation of drug treatment. Time passed, but the complaints persisted. The girl's belly became more and more swollen, and the suffering became more and more apparent.

The parents could not wait any longer. With growing concern, they went for another consultation, this time to a surgeon. It was this doctor who, after taking a history and performing an initial examination, suggested an oncological basis as the cause of the persistent complaints. An ultrasound, ordered immediately, only confirmed the fears. A tumor of already dramatic size was growing in Amelka's tiny body: 14 by 8 centimeters.

Instead of a biopsy - immediate surgery

The imaging results triggered an avalanche of decisions that could not be put off. Amelka was immediately transported to the pediatric oncology unit in Rzeszow. There, due to her rapidly progressing clinical condition, the planned biopsy was abandoned. Doctors decided on immediate surgery. Time had a value of a lifetime here.

However, the procedure was not without dramatic complications - the bladder was damaged during the procedure. And this was not the end of the bad news. The histopathological results left no doubt: soft tissue sarcoma.

Warsaw. A place of hope and struggle

With a determination that knew no fatigue, Amelia's family made the decision to continue treatment at the Mother and Child Institute in Warsaw.

There, among specialists who were able to give direction to the despair, intensive chemotherapy was started, cycles of which followed each other for the next nine months.

Once these were completed, radiation therapy was included to shut down the cancer's path of return. It was an exhausting time - stacked with a schedule of drugs, procedures and hopes that did not always come with strength. But right there, on the brink of exhaustion, every day was a fight for life.

Silence after a storm can be illusory

Although clinical treatment has been completed, the echo of the disease still reverberates in Amelka's daily life. The kidneys, damaged as a result of the treatment, require constant monitoring, specialized treatment and constant care. The girl remains under the watchful supervision of doctors, and every three months she returns to the hospital for check-ups that remind her how much she has already been through.

A recent PET scan showed the presence of a small nodule - just two millimeters in size. Although it shows no tendency to grow, it remains under close observation. This is another part of this quiet but persistent fight for a peaceful childhood.