Mirnes Džanko was only 19 years old when he had to make a difficult decision – to go to an operation which gave him only 20 percent of chances for survival, or to let go to the tumor which was progressing fast. Today this 22-year-old young man of joyful spirit talks about everything as just another step on his road to success.
When he started suffering from strong headaches three years ago, preliminary tests did not indicate to the cause of the problem. However, Mirnes remained patient and persistent. He did not even panic when a lump appeared on his neck and started spreading.
“In the beginning, it was difficult to determine what it is about. Doctors thought it was cold, until a lump started growing on my neck after several months. At the Clinical Center in Sarajevo they did a puncture and then a biopsy and those tests showed that it was a sinus tumor which had metastasized to my neck,” Mirnes said.
Doctors’ prognoses were not promising.
“They told me I had scarce chances for operation because the tumor was inoperable and the chances of survival were also low. Nevertheless, the doctor who operated on me suggested to his colleagues on a medical council to try because it was the case of a young man who had a life to live,” Mirnes recalled.
Mirnes was not afraid even when they were explaining to him the complexity of the surgery, given that he graduated from medical school and he knows how complicated it can all get.
The surgery took five hours and after he survived clinical death, the doctors told Mirnes to be happy to be alive. Later on, Mirnes found out that doctors gave him only 20 percent of chances to survive. However, he surprised everyone once again when not long after the surgery, with all bandages on his head, he communicated with the doctors, fully aware.
However, the surgery was only the beginning of Mirnes’s struggle for life. After it was determined that the removed tumor was malignant, Mirnes had to go through six weeks of chemotherapy.
In order to cure himself entirely, Mirnes needed expensive injections for which his family could not find money. There came the good people from all sides, and Mirnes’s family will forever be grateful to them. His friends even organized a charity gathering.
Mirnes says he feels good today. He returned to sports in the Volleyball Club Bosna and became a coach for female volleyball players in the Primary School “Avdo Smailović” in Buća Potok, in the Sarajevo settlement where he also lives.
(Source: klix.ba/photo: facebook.com)
