Today, the mother of a boy struggling with a serious illness openly shares: “Son Adrijas was more fortunate than his father,” reads the press release of the Mothers’ Union.
Deimantė and Nerijus met very young, and after seven years of friendship, a son was born to them. Diamond was only twenty-three at the time. Both parents of the boy are visually impaired. Diamond can see her husband out of the corner of her eye, he knows his wife only through touch and voice.
The woman’s eyes were damaged by premature birth – retinopathy of prematurity. She can see a little in one eye, and her spouse can’t see at all. When Nerijus was one, he had both eyes removed due to the same diagnosis – eye cancer, which his son Adrijus also inherited.
Eye cancer in children is not treated in Lithuania. There was no way to go to Switzerland, where modern, vision-saving treatment is applied. Today, children suffering from this serious disease are sent to this country for treatment.
Author of the message photo/A little boy’s battle with eye cancer: the family’s story shocks and inspires
Had a shock
Adrijas’ parents, who are visually impaired, are especially happy that their son can see, is a smart, curious and extremely active boy, attends football, learns to play the piano and is preparing to go to the first grade in the fall. Six-year-old Adrijs has already visited the Swiss clinic more than forty times.
“We are happy that our son can see that his illness is under control, but we remember well his first months and all the hardships that we had to go through during those years,” Deimantė says.
At first, when we heard the diagnosis, we still hoped it was a mistake, we were shocked, but the magnetic resonance examination confirmed that Adrijs has retinoblastoma. It was insanely hard to come to terms with such news. Initially, Adrij was treated with three chemotherapy treatments. It was hard to see a child in pain. We knew that the baby needed an operation and that such operations are not performed in Lithuania.”
Author of the message photo/A little boy’s battle with eye cancer: the family’s story shocks and inspires
Traveling to Switzerland is not like a vacation
All children with this diagnosis from Lithuania are sent to a clinic in Switzerland. The medical expenses are covered by the State Hospital Fund, but the families have to pay for travel and living expenses themselves. “We realized that this was a huge amount of money. We didn’t have any. Fortunately, a support and charity fund came to the rescue and covered the cost of all the more than forty medical trips and accommodation. At first we had to go to Switzerland every three or four weeks.
It was extremely difficult, because everything was new, unknown, and for a visually impaired person in a foreign country, it was even more difficult. But you get used to everything. At the moment, Adria does not need treatment, but we have to go to the Swiss clinic every six months for a check-up,” says the boy’s mother.
The fund allocates about 45,000 euros per year to cover the travel and accommodation costs of one child’s treatment in Switzerland.
Author of the message photo/A little boy’s battle with eye cancer: the family’s story shocks and inspires
The most difficult is during the pandemic
Adrij’s first trip to Swiss doctors was when the boy was less than half a year old: “The trip was filled with fear and uncertainty. To make it easier, my brother accompanied us on the first trips. Later, a friend. It was especially difficult to travel during the pandemic, you had to be very careful about the virus. Then you also had to travel by car. We were looking for people who could help. Lately, I have been going on trips with Adrij alone. During these years, I realized how much there is around good people in Switzerland, who also help us a lot – they pick us up from the airport, take us to the hospital. It’s hard to say how many more trips are ahead of us,” shares the woman, who is accustomed to looking at everyday difficulties in a light-hearted way.
She says that in six years, the support and charity foundation has become a second home for her family: “This is another and very beloved family of ours. We are constantly invited to events and holidays organized by the foundation, so we don’t feel alone and lonely. Having a community is very important to us. Communicating with other families with a similar fate, we realized that everyone needs not only financial, but also emotional support and support. This creates a better microclimate in the family, which it also helps the child to recover faster.”
Author of the message photo/A little boy’s battle with eye cancer: the family’s story shocks and inspires
Anyone can help children with cancer by donating 1.2% of GPM to the Mother’s Union.
Application form: FR0512
Beneficiary: Mothers’ Union Support and Charity Fund
Beneficiary code: 302288579
