Today is World Cancer Day and NH went out with Daan van Rhijn. Daan was 22 when he returned from a holiday with friends and was not feeling well. Without thinking about it too much, he went to his student house in Amsterdam, where an ‘egg’ suddenly appeared near his hip. As a precaution, Daan called the doctor, after which he ended up in a huge medical mill. We had a conversation about what his life looks like now and what his dreams are for the future.
Daan soon heard that he had to come by immediately, because it was not good news. He had acute leukemia and had to be admitted the next day so that he could start the treatments as quickly as possible.
The whole situation was surreal for Daan, he was young and healthy, right? The chemo treatments started and Daan no longer had any resistance. He was susceptible to viruses and infections. The treatments did not work well, making him ineligible for a stem cell transplant. He would either die from the leukemia or from the viruses and infections. His chance of survival had dropped from 50 percent to 0.1 percent. He had finished his treatment and the doctors could no longer do anything for him.
Parting
Daan said goodbye to his friends and family and accepted that he had died. He was at peace with it, because he thought he had already had such a beautiful life. Daan returned for a final set of operations, when blood tests showed that the treatment was suddenly working.
It was difficult for Daan to switch things up and continue with the treatments, because he had already resigned himself to the fact that he was going to die. Shortly afterwards, Daan was declared cancer-free.
And now, three years later, NH is standing with Daan on the beach on the day he completed his thesis, healthy and happy.
2024-02-04 09:00:00
#Daan #heard #die #shortly #turned #cancerfree
