8-year-old defeats cancer: Justus fights his way back to life

Created: 12/22/2021, 8:58 AM

Little man, big: Justus fought his way back to life.

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Months of hope and fear, setbacks and progress.

The doctors considered the fight hopeless.

Now the DKMS declares that the boy from Lower Saxony is cancer-free.

Stuhr - Behind Justus and his family lies an uphill struggle, months of hope and fear, setbacks and progress.

Now the German bone marrow donor database (DKMS) reports that the Stuhrer boy from Lower Saxony has won the fight against leukemia - despite all gloomy prognoses.

Review: When Justus was finally released from the hospital months later, the doctors had no more hope.

You provide the little blood cancer patient with a palliative care team.

They explain to the parents that Justus will soon leave them.

“But then I didn't do that,” says the elementary school student boldly.

In the meantime everything is still not good, but Justus is considered cancer-free.

In November he was back at school for a few days.

8-year-old defeats cancer: "We don't give up, no matter what"

“We always said: We won't give up, no matter what happens,” says Justus' mom Telja Fänrich.

The prospect that her son would only have a short time to live was an unimaginable shock for the whole family.

Nevertheless, sadness should not occupy the greatest place, but joy in life.

And so the parents make the most of the supposedly last weeks together with Justus.

You celebrate his child's birthday afterwards - with lemonade and piñata, just as you wish.

Health improves during what is believed to be the last few weeks of his life

Justus receives a visit from the fire brigade and is allowed to climb to lofty heights with their turntable ladder.

He bathes in the neighbors' swimming pool, although patients after a stem cell transplant are not advised to do so due to the bacterial load.

His parents rent a cinema because Justus would so much like to go to the cinema again and visit a Werder Bremen game with their son.

Because Justus regrets that he may never go to a discotheque, the family organizes a visit to one of them.

“We had a good time and celebrated life,” says Telja Fänrich.

8-year-old defeats cancer: Darth Vader, Chewbacca and other Star Wars characters

Lots of dear people help the family with this: when you visit the Botanika nature experience center in Bremen, Justus Darth Vader, Chewbacca and a few other Star Wars characters appear.

The German Pink Force association organized this surprise for Justus.

The seriously ill boy spends an unforgettable afternoon - and is even allowed to build his own lightsaber.

And even if Justus actually shows strong symptoms of renewed leukemia immediately after being discharged, these are getting weaker and weaker every day - and Justus more active and flexible.

When he is involved in a water bomb battle in the neighborhood, the mother watches her son - and pauses as if moved by thunder.

“Somebody who is supposed to leave will certainly behave differently,” she thinks.

Puncturing the bone marrow: bone marrow donation defeats the cancer-sick boy from Lower Saxony

She speaks to the palliative care team and the treating doctors.

On August 5th, Justus 'bone marrow was punctured at the parents' request to determine the stage of the disease.

The result: Justus is cancer-free.

Although there are still degenerate cells in the blood, there is no residual disease.

The parents hardly believe what they hear.

“Can you explain that to us?” They ask the doctors.

They can't do that.

You and Justus' family are amazed at his progress.

Presumably, contrary to all prognoses, the cells of Justus' donor quietly and secretly defeated his leukemia.

“We then drank children's champagne first,” says the mother.

Another puncture of the bone marrow brings surprising results for the seriously ill boy from Stuhr

On September 10th, Justus' mother marries his stepfather, the "Bonuspad", with whom Justus has a close relationship.

“We thought everything is fine right now.

Who knows what's coming

We put the wedding off within two and a half weeks. "

Another puncture will take place at the end of September.

Result: no residual disease.

Likewise at the beginning of November - the degenerate cells were no longer visible either.

"We then started to prepare Justus for school again."

back to school

And so Justus was allowed to go to school for six days in November before the fourth wave of the corona pandemic pushed him back into homeschooling.

Justus during therapy.

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Everything is still not going well with Jupiter.

His kidneys have suffered from chemotherapy and he has problems with eating and drinking.

He was recently in the hospital again for a few days because a gastrointestinal infection had weakened him severely.

Nevertheless, the family is in good spirits because life is just so much nicer than it was a year ago.

Long suffering: After being diagnosed with blood cancer, Justus spends weeks and months in the hospital

Back when the blood cancer diagnosis was fresh, when Justus had to stay in the hospital for weeks and months.

When the parents split up between their sick child in the clinic, his big sister Tjalda (11 today) and little brother Nepomuk (1), who was born only two and a half weeks before the horror diagnosis and who also needed full attention.

During the 2020 Christmas season, the search for a stem cell donor for Justus was in full swing.

3,640 people had a DKMS registration set sent to them as part of a virtual campaign.

The great willingness to help in their environment gave the family a lot of strength and confidence.

Feelings that Telja Fänrich would now like to pass on to other affected people by telling Justus' story.

Justus is an avid baker

And Justus?

He enjoys life.

Playing with his siblings, finally riding his bike again.

And bake and bake and bake.

“Jupiter loves baking.

He always chooses the recipes himself and bakes more than the family can eat, ”says his mother with a laugh.

But now Christmas can come.

The chances are good that it will be a happy one.

One with a healthy Justus who looks happily into the future.

The eight-year-old already knows exactly what he wants to do in a year and a half.

Then the two-year anonymity period for stem cell transplants is over and he can contact his lifesaver.

“I really want to get to know him,” says Justus.

And then he will tell him the story of the time when the doctors gave up on him, but the strong cells of the donor, together with Justus' body and his irrepressible will to live, really outsmarted cancer.

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