Artem is battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia❗ Support needed❗.

Ordinary symptoms? Only on the surface

Artem is five years old. Busy, joyful, he filled every space in which he appeared with himself. And that he often had a runny nose or fever? After all, that's typical for a preschooler, especially at the turn of winter and spring. This is how his parents explained his repeated infections.

Over time, however, the fevers began to return with increasing frequency. The temperature, despite the medications, persisted for days afterwards, and Artem grew weaker with each passing day.
He fidgeted less and less, and asked for rest more and more often. He complained of abdominal and leg pains, as if his little body was trying to say something before the test results did.

During another episode of high fever, his mother went with him to the hospital in Gdansk. Basic tests were enough to dispel any illusions - the indicators were alarming . On May 2, 2025, the diagnosis was made: acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

A child's smile in hospital silence - priceless

The diagnosis almost immediately confined Artem to the hospital space. Everything he had known up to that point disappeared, giving way to new smells, sounds and objects that had become his daily routine.

The only constant in this changing world is mom - present at the bedside, watching, gentle, a guarantee that despite everything - it will be okay.

Therapy is not easy. Intensive chemotherapy, punctures, bone marrow biopsies, blood transfusions - each of these treatments brings pain, and with it the panicky fear of another injection.
The side effects are equally difficult. They weaken an already exhausted body, take away appetite, strength and sleep.

Artem's treatment was not without complications. Pancreatic and intestinal burns, infection after catheter insertion, passing COVID-19 twice and other viral infections meant that his body had to fight on several fronts at once.

Still, there are moments when the hospital quiets down and a smile appears on the boy's face. Sometimes just a gentle one, barely visible from under his mask, when his mother brings his beloved LEGOs.
In those moments, you don't see the cancer ward patient. What you see is a small, brave and smiling child who has forgotten about the pain for a moment.

A reality to take care of

Mom has been standing by her son for months. She keeps vigil at his bedside, soothes his every cry and calms his every anxiety-filled breath.
Fatigue, stress and uncertainty are taking an increasingly heavy toll on her psyche, and financial problems are painfully draining the family budget.

Waiting at home is her sister, who is very much affected by her brother's illness. She finds it hard to bear her mother's absence and the silence that has filled their home.
This is the daily reality of many families whose lives have been forced to part in the face of illness, which is full of longing, but also love.