Antek is only 12 years old❗Acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia❗

Onset of illness

The symptoms that triggered a series of events looked like one of many childhood infections. With suspected latent pneumonia, Antek was taken to the University Clinical Center in Gdańsk. It was mid-November 2025.

However, further diagnostic tests quickly revealed a much more brutal reality. The 12-year-old boy was admitted to the ward with nearly 160,000 white blood cells and a large amount of fluid in his pleural cavity, which severely impeded his breathing. Due to the immediate threat to his life, steroid therapy and chemotherapy were initiated within the first few hours.

Diagnosis

Everything happened so quickly that the diagnosis of acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia was made almost between one urgent decision and procedure and the next. Emotions, though natural, took a back seat. Action was the priority.

Treatments to save your breath

On November 21 , a pleural drainage procedure was performed. One and a half liters of fluid, which was literally suffocating him, was drained from Antek's chest. It was a life-saving procedure.

At the beginning of December , a vascular catheter was inserted, necessary for the continuous administration of drugs and infusion fluids. The body of the twelve-year-old boy became a space for further interventions, which he accepted with striking calm, as if he intuitively understood that there was no other way.

Treatment and its price

The second outpatient treatment protocol is currently underway. The first stage involved steroid therapy and chemotherapy, aimed at bringing the disease into remission. It was then that Antek lost his hair and much of his strength.

The second protocol involves intensive, highly stressful chemotherapy with cytarabine. The side effects include reflux, palate erosions, ulcers, severe abdominal pain, and a complete loss of appetite. The treatment continues, and Antek's body is paying a very high price for it.

Hospital instead of home

For over two months, the hospital ward has been part of everyday life. He has only been able to return home a few times, and only when his test results allowed it. Care for Antek has been divided between his parents, and the whole family's life has been subordinated to his treatment and constant vigilance.

Antek's older sister, a high school senior, stayed at home. She understands that everything now revolves around her brother's health, although her own fear remains silent and unspoken.

Daily life on the brink of strength

Every day begins with results and questions that no one can answer definitively. "It depends" too often becomes the only possible response, and in this treatment, these words carry a special weight. Antek, who until recently was full of energy and passion, now accepts further procedures, probes, catheters, and restrictions, just to have a chance to recover.

He loved exercise, his bike, which he could repair himself, rowing training, and riding his scooter. He dreamed of owning a motorcycle.