I didn't know Oltiana, but I had only heard about her. I knew him through a friend of mine, who had told me a painful but successful story.
I understood the last happy reason of this story as soon as I met Olta, the smiling woman with good taste in clothes. She lived life with all the beautiful and ugly details of everyday life.
We recognized each other even though we did not know each other physically, but the meeting in that bar belonged only to us, since we were alone there that morning.
After the greeting and the ritual of a slight smile among strangers, it seemed to me that I knew that woman even before. As we started talking, she ordered a tea and I ordered my morning coffee.
I kept not connecting the story I had been told with the woman in front of me. With a quiet but very flexible speech, with a clean and peaceful portrait, she seemed quite optimistic, optimism that had helped her succeed. Uncontrollably, the first question came out: How did you do it?
He started the story with a smile about the battle and the victory.
Five years ago, when he had not yet turned 36, on a cold winter day on Christmas Eve, he had gone to visit and celebrate with his relatives. There she realized that something was wrong with her body.
Being a doctor and a woman who regularly performed medical visits, she immediately went to the oncology hospital in Tirana, for a more specialized check-up.
The sad face of his colleagues dispelled any doubts, although they did not have the courage to tell him immediately. A few days later, on January 4, he decided to travel to Greece to undergo surgery.
The results of the biopsy were what shocked her the most: she now had to face the fact that she had stage two cancer. As a doctor, Olta knew well what this diagnosis meant, where the chance of recovery was 85%.
As a woman full of energy and an incorrigible optimist, in addition to holding herself with courage, she also has to be a psychologist for her family. It seems that they were experiencing the biggest shock. Mother of two children, 11 and 5 years old, she had just bought a new house.
In the daily struggle, in the efforts to do her doctorate and with the desire to leave the country in the future, she had forgotten to take care of herself. The news of the illness found not only Olta but also her husband unprepared, and both of them faced a big dilemma: should they tell the children this news?
It had already become impossible to hide the news, as the chemotherapy had started its first effects: hair loss and frequent vomiting. One day he had left the door open, when the sad look of the little boy weighed him down more than the illness. In order to pass this and many other similar situations with humor and sportsmanship, as well as to justify the short hair, he jokingly told the boys that there were now four men in the family.
And yet she did not seek pity from anyone. Not even when she sent pictures to her friends on Whatsapp and said: "Don't neglect yourself. Do you see how I am confused? No hair, no eyebrows…”
Almost 5 years have already passed. Olta's sons have grown even more, with her husband she experiences a beautiful relationship every day, she managed to get her doctorate.
Even though she won the battle, Olta does not neglect the constant medical checks, just as she keeps under control the work she does every day in the laboratory as a microbiologist. She won the battle, but her fight continues…
With a population of about 3 million inhabitants and approx 7,700 new cases of cancer diagnosed each year, Albania's demand for cancer treatment greatly exceeds the available capacity.
Based on data from the Ministry of Health, this is why cancer kills most people in the country after cardiovascular diseases. For every three people in Albania who lost their lives from heart or blood diseases, in 2016, one of them was from cancer.
Olta is an example of success, from which I learned a lot. A strong woman just like the women who have changed the history of the world. Same as Queen Victoria, Catherine of Russia, Elizabeth of England, Maria Theresa of Austria. Olta is an inspiration to all women.
Its appeal is clear: Take some time out of your life to do the examination and you will always be healthy.
Author: E. L / Citizens Channel
