Christmas Joy – ill-fated series brings immense suffering to the family

The black series began shortly after the birth of the youngest offspring, Danilo. When the child was four months old, the child’s eyes began to squint severely. But it wasn’t an eye problem, as the pediatrician had suspected. It was cancer!

Nine malignant tumors
Doctors at Graz University Hospital found four malignant tumors in his right eye and five in his left eye. “It was a huge shock,” says mother Dani (38), who, like her husband Aleks, was emotionally overwhelmed when she received the devastating diagnosis. The risk that Danilo’s cancer had already spread was high. Liquid tumors can spread very quickly throughout the entire organism via the bloodstream.

Special treatment in Switzerland
In Danilo’s case, the cancer was apparently discovered early, but immediate action had to be taken. An attempt was made to burn the cancer cells using laser beams. Because almost all tumors were located on the back of the retina, the use of this technique was unfortunately only possible to a limited extent. The despair remained great as the tumors grew larger. The family then heard about a promising treatment method at the University Hospital of Lausanne (Switzerland).

There, specialists tried to freeze the tumors using cryotherapy. Thanks to several stays in Switzerland and chemotherapy, the cancer growth in the eye was stopped for the time being. Unfortunately, the danger does not seem to have been averted. Because the check-up appointments at the Graz Clinic, which are now necessary every six weeks, become a real nightmare every time.

Next bad news
Danilo can no longer see in his left eye, and he only has 26 percent vision in his right eye. But that was not enough: after the end of chemo, the parents received the following bad news. Doctors diagnosed the little boy with autism spectrum disorder in early childhood.

Development level of a small child
“Our son will be four years old on December 12, but his general cognitive development is at the level of a fifteen-month-old child,” explains mother Dani, who cannot take her eyes off her brave darling for a second.

“Danilo can only say a few words like mom or dad, his language skills are at the level of a ten-month-old child and he is still dependent on diapers,” said the mother. However, she is happy that her son no longer needs a feeding tube and can instead be fed pureed and gluten-free foods.

Changing schools and bankruptcy
In between, the family was also confronted with the fact that their eldest son Michi (10) was bullied so badly in his class for two years that a change of school was inevitable. In addition, through no fault of his own, Aleks’ small craft business went bankrupt due to outstanding customer payments.

Fatal blood poisoning
But the worst blow to the family was yet to come: on August 19, father Aleks died of blood poisoning, two days after a routine procedure in a hospital. “That was an absolute catastrophe,” emphasizes Dani, who has since had to bear the family’s health and financial worries all alone.

Mom has to persevere
This was not without consequences for the 38-year-old. Due to stress, she developed paralysis on one side of her face (paresis), which she still suffers from: “I now have constant headaches and my mouth is crooked – which causes problems with eating. I can no longer close my left eye completely, so it keeps drying out.” But she knows she has to hold on – for Danilo and his siblings!