I am Emese Békési, 47 years old, mother of 2 sons.

In the autumn of 2024, my life changed suddenly. At the beginning of October, my head started to hurt, I couldn't find the words, and the things I wrote down were meaningless to others. My condition deteriorated by the minute, to the point that I was immediately taken to hospital.

The diagnosis was a brain tumour.

Within a month I was operated on and the histology unfortunately confirmed what no one wanted to hear, that my disease was glioblastoma, the most aggressive brain tumour.

Even with successful surgery, the average survival time for patients is 12-15 months.

Two months later I needed another life-saving surgery in Szeged. The operation was successful and the abscess around the tumour was removed. Thanks to the doctors I was able to spend Christmas with my family.

The holidays were followed by six weeks of chemo and radiotherapy and then maintenance chemotherapy.

We were very hopeful. I felt well, none of the treatments knocked me off my feet and I was able to go back to work. Unfortunately, hope and optimism did not last long. The MRI scan in June showed a recurrence, so medication was changed, but the next MRI showed the situation had worsened. Again a change of medication was made.

Meanwhile we received information about an immunotherapy treatment in Germany. This therapy has very good results in patients with glioblastoma.

The therapy involves the preparation of a vaccine specifically tailored to the patient based on samples taken from the tumour and blood. This vaccine awakens my immune system to recognise and destroy the tumour cells.

Unfortunately, this treatment is not funded by my national health insurance, so I would like to ask for your help in the form of donations to cover my treatment and give me another chance at life.

This therapy could mean years for me to see my children grow up, meet my friends and continue my life.

You can read more about the therapy here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51315-8

Thank you for reading and for supporting my treatment!