A nurse from Italy turned the Czech healthcare system upside down. She gave “incurable” children a chance to live

It all started in 2017, when a five-year-old girl Vian from the Czech Republic was operated on at the Ismett clinic in Palermo. Markéta Pernicová, an instrument technician from a nearby clinic, who has been living in Italy for three decades, was invited to translate. At that time, Vian made a “secret agreement” with her parents that they must together get the possibility of surgery among as many parents as possible in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to whom doctors say that these children cannot be helped.

When they together saved nine children with prehepatic portal hypertension from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, they decided to go further and organize a unique medical conference in the Czech Republic, where all families will be able to meet together. They organized a fundraiser, for which almost half a million crowns were raised in a short time, and got to work. Even today, you can hear the emotion in Markéta’s voice when reminiscing: “The conference turned out amazingly, it was really great and very emotional, especially the first day, which was dedicated to the parents of operated children and they were all there, as well as the non-medical audience.” The next day he was at the Motol hospital, where doctors from the Czech Republic and Slovakia met, we were very happy because this was how the much-awaited and necessary cooperation could begin. So now we have two key doctors in the Czech Republic and Slovakia who are in direct contact with the professor, with whom they consult everything and everything runs quickly and efficiently.”

Capacity in the field that saves Czech children

Professor Jean de Ville de Goyet, who saved Czech and Slovak children through operations in Italy, was one of the speakers at the Prague conference. He already has more than five hundred successful pediatric transplants behind him and is thus considered one of the leading experts in pediatric abdominal surgery and liver transplantation in the world. The goal of the conference was not only the emotional meeting of families, but also the familiarization of the medical and non-medical public with the treatment of portal prehepatic hypertension with Meso-Rex bypass surgery. Thanks to the conference, our doctors now know that there is also a surgical solution that can completely cure this disease. Because until now, unfortunately, they have often told parents that there is no cure.

Just the thought of being in that parent’s shoes is overwhelming. At the same time, as it turned out, useless. “In 2017, Vian’s parents and I said that we would do everything to spread the word about the operation as much as possible. Even saving an only child will be worth our efforts!” The woman who gives parents hope and children life back looks back on the past with determination for the future: “Vian’s parents are mainly responsible for spreading the news about the possibility of curing portal hypertension with Meso-Rex bypass surgery. They set up pages about this disease, tried to spread information among the public thanks to social networks. I then helped other parents of sick children with communication with Ismet, with the translation of medical reports, or with the search for suitable accommodation before and after surgery,” says Markéta Pernicová, who was said to be able to imagine very well what it was like to arrive in a foreign country, not knowing the language and put their child’s life in the hands of a professor they don’t know. “I try to simplify their stay and be close to them. I greatly admire her strength,” adds the nurse, who probably does not realize how big a role she played in the unexpected turning point in the Czech healthcare industry in this area. At that time, little sister Markéta, originally from Bohemia, understood that this was the intention of fate, which brought her to Sicily years ago.

A pile of blood at the beginning, a gruesome verdict at the end. The fear of parents in the Czech Republic and Slovakia about an incurable disease is finally over

Sometimes portal hypertension is manifested by bleeding from esophageal varices, other times it is indicated by an enlarged spleen or thrombocytopenia. According to Markéta’s estimates, there are approximately three hundred children with this disease in our country. Early diagnosis and subsequent causal treatment can save them numerous hospitalizations and perhaps even twenty operations. Those that are only palliative treatment. Which only prevents further massive vomiting of blood. A life-threatening and extremely traumatizing matter, which her stepmother Lenka also experienced firsthand with little Valentýnka. Out of nowhere, Valinka’s stomach started to hurt, and then came the endless vomiting of blood, the arrival of the ambulance, more vomiting, the air transport to Olomouc, uncertainty, confusion and fear. Lenka was lucky, a former classmate of Markéta Pernicová worked at the hospital and immediately connected them. The doctor had already been informed about the possibility of surgery in Italy. Unbelievable luck for a woman who would otherwise have heard that her child was helpless.

It’s been exactly a year since people from the Czech Republic and abroad have been celebrating Valentine’s Day in record time. It was time that played a crucial role

In just 48 hours, strangers were able to donate almost a million crowns to the little girl on the Znesnáze donation platform: “I sat at the laptop and cried with happiness and emotion. I wrote my reactions in the news, recalls Lenka, Valinka’s baby. “It was all so fast after that. I was everywhere with Valinka, at examinations where she was under general anesthesia, they put her to sleep in my arms in the hall, before the operation in the hall. The operation lasted seven hours, after which I was with her again and waited until she woke up. The level is really great, the dream of every child and parent,” he recalls. It’s been a few days since they went to Sicily for their one-year check-up. They met nurse Pernicová again and according to everyone it was a very nice reunion: “Valentine’s day is going well. She is growing handsome, she is smiling, very lively. It was a year full of hopes and expectations, worries about how the checks would turn out, whether everything would still be okay. We are very happy that everything turned out well. The inspection went great, everything is as it should be and Valinka is in the best of health. Markéta was with us throughout the inspection. We are also in constant contact throughout the year. And as it happens, the fact that happened brought us closer. Valinka still has to take three medicines, her dose has been increased. One of these medicines, for blood thinning, is not available in the Czech Republic, so it is necessary to buy them in Italy, Markéta even sent them to us for this reason. Since an artificial vein had to be used for Valinka, she will have to undergo all this for another year. We all believe that things will be fine again and Valentine will be completely healthy,” says mother Lenka, who also used money from generous donors to pay for a check-up that the insurance company does not pay for, and that is why she is once again grateful to the people who helped a year ago. Mrs. Havriščuková then promised that she would donate the money left over after paying the costs associated with the operation to help other children. And she helped quite a few. Part of the surplus from donors also went to the organization of a much-needed conference, which enabled all children with a similar affliction to be examined in our country.

All it took was sensitivity, compassion and determination. A nurse from the Czech Republic proved that work is her calling

“Thanks to the conference, Czech doctors already know about the possibility of surgery, which is absolutely great, and portographies, which used to be done in Palermo, when it was not certain whether the child would be able to be operated on or not, are now done in Motola,” he says with the joy of nurse Markéta, who personally knows all the Czech and Slovak children whose lives were saved by the operation in Palermo. She was with them throughout the hospitalization and is still in contact with them. And he is looking forward to others whom he will be able to help: “Some moments are really very emotionally powerful. For example, waiting with the parents in front of the operating theater and then being informed by Mr. Professor de Ville immediately afterwards. I am glad that I can accompany them in such difficult moments and be the support and helper they need,” concludes Markéta Pernicová, a Czech nurse who was able to give Czech children a chance at life back from Italy.