Hey, hi, I'm Bigan!

That’s what my friends call me, and below I’ll share my story and why we’re here

First of all, I don’t think I’m very different from you. One of the most important things to me is friendship. I love spending time with my friends, I love big meals where we eat well and laugh a lot, concerts, good films, and I love my two cats.❤️

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt over the last two years is that it’s OK to ask for help.

In October 2022, at the age of 42, during a routine check-up, I was diagnosed with bile duct cancer. This type of cancer is surprisingly rare among young people, and there are no comprehensive treatment plans in Romania to help life expectancy exceed the grim figures shown by the statistics. My estimated life expectancy at the time of diagnosis was a maximum of six months.

After all this upsetting news, I got in touch with a doctor in Austria who, indeed, confirmed what the doctors in Romania had said. But, because there has always been a ‘BUT’ in my life, he assured me that by following the appropriate treatment, we could extend my life expectancy beyond those 6 months. So, in December 2022, I began chemotherapy treatment in Vienna. I had to choose this in order to live, despite the financial and physical strain I knew I was taking on.

In the first two years, I responded well to the treatment; I gained weight, the tumours were inactive, tumour marker tests were within normal ranges, and I travelled to Vienna for treatment every five weeks. I turned 45 and was very happy to have lived long enough to celebrate with all my loved ones, and I managed to remain professionally active, even if only part-time :). It is very important that the treatment and my positive progress allowed me to work so that I could cover the costs of the treatment.

I had high hopes for 2025. My doctor told me that if we got good results from the CT scan in January, we would extend the interval between chemotherapy sessions to six weeks. I was optimistic; I thought that, on the one hand, my body would be able to take a longer break to recover and that it would also be a relief financially.

January brought less good news – some of the tumours were active again – they had developed resistance to the chemotherapy drugs. That’s why we had to change the treatment plan and the frequency of the therapy sessions. I now go every three weeks and I hope with all my heart that I will respond well to the treatment and that in two years’ time I will return here to help raise funds for other causes.

To be able to continue this treatment, which I know will last at least another year, I still need a further €50,000, which, at the moment, is very difficult for me to raise on my own.

If I could find 5,000 people who would be willing to donate 10 euros each, I would raise the amount needed to complete my treatment.

For any further information, please contact me at [email protected].

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this message❤️

I wish you a fabulous day!

Georgiana Bigan