Szymon Piętko

Szymon was a healthy two year old baby. It wasn’t until October 23, 2013 after completing the treatment, Szymon was examined by the doctors. Unfortunately, cancer did not give up and spread into the vitreous. In this case, the therapy did not help. It was necessary to save Szymon’s life therefore, on December 4, 2013 doctors removed Szymon’s right eye.his parents noticed frequent eye infections and one day spotted a strange reflection in his eye. They immediately took him to a doctor. After examination and ultrasound parents heard a devastating diagnosis, retinoblastoma. Szymon went through 6 chemotherapy treatments. The doctors told his parents, that he may lose his eye. Szymon’s parents desperately sought other treatment opportunities. The whole family travelled to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London specializing in retinoblastoma treatment. On July 3 Szymon began melphalan therapy.  Unfortunately, this method is not available in Poland and is not reimbursed by the National Health Fund. The cost of the entire treatment was about 300,000zł ($100,000). The YCBMAF helped relieve some of the financial burden. November 16th marked a year since diagnosis.