Dimitar Mihailov: A donor from Germany gave me stem cells, saved my life

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Dimitar Mihailov: A donor from Germany gave me stem cells, saved my life
Dimitar Mihailov: A donor from Germany gave me stem cells, saved my life
Anonim

“40,000 people in Bulgaria get sick every year from oncohematological diseases. With a population of 7 million people, their number is too many. If we add the worries of the people around the sick, we can imagine what a social problem this is , says Prof. Dr. Georgi Mihailov, national consultant in clinical hematology, head of the Hematology Clinic at the National Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment of Hematological Diseases and deputy director of the hospital.

Prof. Mihailov graduated in medicine in 1981 and his entire professional career has been devoted to oncohematology. Participated in the first stem cell transplants in Bulgaria. He is a member of the leadership of the Bulgarian Society of Clinical Hematology and Transfusion, the European Transplantation Federation, the leadership of the Eastern European Leukemia Treatment Group and the American Association of Hematology.

Prof. Mihailov has devoted more than 30 years of his life to oncohematology. He is the doctor trusted by the most loved Bulgarian actor Stefan Danailov.

“Treatment of oncohematological diseases is the same everywhere. Our strategy is globally refined. There are different ways of treatment, but they differ only in nuances. Medicine is not an engineering discipline, there is a high degree of subjectivity. The reason is that the disease progresses differently in different people, adds the famous hematologist.

24-year-old Dimitar Mihailov from Ruse is one of those transplanted with stem cells in his native Oncohematology in Sofia. The young man also trusts in the hands of the specialist oncohematologist prof. Mikhailov. "And now I'm alive, I'm trying to become completely he althy. I am glad that I am being treated by Bulgarian hematologists, they are very good professionals," Dimitar Mihailov shared about "Doctor".

Dimitar, when and how did your fight with leukemia begin?

- Last year, at the end of April, I found out that I have leukemia. One morning I woke up and I had no strength to get out of bed, to bend my knees. I was trembling all over, I felt powerless, even scared of what was happening to me. And just the day before I ran - at that time I was a student at the National Sports Academy, 4th year. I hung up - now I'm retired due to illness…

Where did you start your treatment?

- For almost two years now, I have been treated at the Oncohematology Department, where they started chemotherapy. I stayed in the hospital for a month until I went into remission. They let me go home for 10-15 days, then they took me back to the hospital. When I went into remission for three months, on May 28 of this year, I underwent a stem cell transplant. I accepted the cells well, now I come to the clinic every month for check-ups.

Who is your donor?

- I don't know him - he's from Germany, from Cologne.

Were you afraid of the transplant?

- No, I wasn't afraid. It is not painful - I saw a bag, like the ones they keep blood in for transfusion, with a yellowish liquid. 180 ml, they poured them through my aboka - nothing hurt me. In about 40 minutes, the transplant was completed - and now I'm alive, I'm trying to get fully he althy. I am glad that I am being treated by Bulgarian hematologists, they are very good professionals.

If you hadn't gotten sick and didn't need stem cells, would you have ever thought about becoming a voluntary donor?

- Honestly, no, I haven't thought of such a thing. And not because I'm against it, but because I have no information on how to do it. I think overall

the Bulgarian has a low he alth culture

Now I know a lot about donation, this person, although a foreigner, saved my life. Thanks to his stem cells, I have a chance to live, otherwise the disease would have wiped me off the face of the earth. I may be speaking very emotionally, but this is the truth…

According to you we don't take care of our he alth…

- We don't take care of our he alth, we don't take care of it. Every second smokes in our country! Why does he do it?! He knows very well that it is harmful - there are signs on billboards about cigarettes everywhere. I have never smoked or drank, but here this insidious disease has overtaken me. This, more or less, helped me to take the meds more easily - and they are quite strong.

Before I got sick, I was 70 kg, then I gained a lot of weight. When I was transplanted, I was 112 kg. Now I'm back to my normal weight again.

Which doctor is treating you?

- It's not one - treating leukemia is a team effort. I saw this with my own eyes. I have always been in a different room, and there is a certain attending physician. But from the nurse to the professor, they are equally important to me - everyone takes care of you for which they are authorized.

Have you thought about having a transplant abroad?

- Why should I think that, when I found out that it can be done in our country too?!

They want a lot of money abroad

Okay, the state will help me somewhat, but where will I get the remaining amount?! I was very sick, my mother took care of me around the clock. There, who will do it - and for that they want money. And it turns out that the work of doctors in our country is free… This is a paradox, Bulgarian, but our country is like that - poor, and it has no money to pay these unique Bulgarian doctors, who live and treat Bulgarians in Bulgaria of their own free will..

In what words would you urge people to empathize with the pain of others, become stem cell donors or donate organs?

- First and foremost, people should be made aware of the magic of donation. That it - with all its variants - necessarily saves human life. It is not being talked about on television, nor is it being written about in the newspapers. And there are no books about donation, they are not advertised. Well, how do we know it?! Various medicines are advertised - I think it's as if they are forcing us to get sick so that we buy some medicine… And wines, and beers, packaged foods… This is not the way to understand how important it is to be a donor, of course, each on his own makes this decision for himself.

Are you optimistic about your future?

- Yes, I am optimistic. After the transplant I could not move, I was isolated and under medical supervision for 38 days. It was difficult for me, they walked me around with a wheelchair, then with a walker - I walked with it. But I know I have to help myself too.

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