As some of you know my husband Jakub (Kuba) has been fighting a brain tumour since 2021.

It came out of nowhere, he was fit and healthy without any symptoms until one day in June 2021. I was 6 months pregnant and I got a call from Kuba's phone number, the person on the other side told me that Kuba was being taken to the hospital as he just had three seizures , lost consciousness and didn't know who he was. That's when our life turned upside down.

The MRI scans confirmed that it was all due to a brain tumour - glioma. This is not the news you want to hear when you're expecting your first baby. It was devastating.

Kuba had to have an urgent surgery to remove the tumour. Even though the resection was considered a success (he was fully mobile, conscious, etc. afterwards) it was not possible to remove the whole tumour so he subsequently underwent radio- and chemotherapy at Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton. The whole treatment took 18 months. In the meantime our son - Janek was born. There was a time when both Kuba and myself (due to post-labour complications) were hospitalised / undergoing treatment and a newborn Janek had to stay with our friends (we are forever grateful to them).

Kuba was slowly recovering (although he lost 20kg in 18 months) and in 2023 we finally enjoyed some normal life, his scans were clear.

Unfortunately, mid January 2024 his scans showed a disease progression. The tumour was back, and this time it is considered inoperable. The only remaining standard treatment at this stage is another chemotherapy. Kuba has started the first of the total 12 cycles that he needs to complete this year.

We are not giving up and trying to find any complementary treatments to stop the tumour growing. So far, we have found two promising therapies for which Kuba is eligible:

1. Hyperthermia at University College London Hospital (UCLH) - it should enhance the effect of chemotherapy. The yearly cost is around £40k

and

2. Immunotherapy at IOZK in Cologne, Germany - its aim is to trigger the immune system to fight cancer. The cost of the first stage of treatment (few months) is around €73k euro (around £63k)

Kuba was not working during his initial treatment (18 months) and he worked part time in 2023, he stopped working again in January. I am the main breadwinner and I am not able to cover the costs of the treatment on my own. Hence, I am asking you for some support, I would be grateful for any donation.

I invite you to watch a quick video presenting Kuba's fight in the last 2.5 years.

THANK YOU,

Emilia, Jakub and Janek