Urtė Žaliūkaitė
Renewed! 19 April 2019
in 2019 April 17 Urte met with dr. Eloy Garcia Diez in Lithuania. We share a few moments.
Renewed! 04.02.2019
in 2019 month of January. on the 31st Urte underwent a second operation in Barcelona (3,123 euros were used from the accumulated amount). A few moments from Barcelona in the photo gallery.
05.01.2018. How did your year start? Urtė - from big changes. Thanks to your sensitive concern, on December 21. she received one of the most magical Christmas gifts - the first operation since she applied to the Face Fund (2323.94 eur of the collected amount was used). Urtė's case is extraordinary, so it was solved by an international team of the strongest doctors together with Dr. Eloy Garcia Diez. Reconstruction of the hard and soft tissues of the face was performed during the operation in Barcelona. Unfortunately, this operation is not the first and not the last for Urte, but it will open new stages of treatment that will hopefully turn her life upside down. We will be sharing these changes regularly in the near future, and for now we say THANK YOU - only your involvement turns fragile hopes into real happy stories.
Currently, the amount used for treatment from the fund accumulated for Urtei is 3000 EUR.
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What is the most common thought that comes to your mind? Morning, day, evening, night? They are different and depend on your mood? Understandable. It's completely normal... And what do you think when you look in the mirror? Misplaced acne? Eyebrows too thick or too thin? Hair not as curly or as light as you would like? This is also normal.
And you know what I think? Definitely, about a lot of things. Only among them are some constantly haunting and all other thoughts - "How do I look?", "What do others think about me?", "What do they think when they look at me?"... These thoughts weigh like a stone. Alina is like an unknown. It's exhausting like the hardest physical work.
When the whole world seems to only talk about uniqueness, the desire to be different, special, I always silently think to myself: "You have no idea how much I would like to be like everyone else. The kind that doesn't need to be intimidated by the stares and sneers around you." Being "like everyone else" in this case means to me a luxury that ensures peace and security. A luxury that I don't have and can't achieve, because I simply can't approach everyone who is surprised and explain: "Hello, I'm Urte, and my face is like that because I had cancer."
It was... And it left a reminder of itself. When I was three, I was diagnosed with sinus cancer on the right side of my face. Then, ten years ago, when parents and loved ones were going crazy, experiencing hope and despair at the same time, when they were doing everything they could, I still didn't understand what was happening. I only remember the long days in the hospital, then the constant check-ups with the doctors. I still remember the joy written in the eyes and lips of the parents: "retired...". After long sessions of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, the cancer finally left me and my face. However, the radical treatment was merciless: it affected the facial bones and they stopped growing. Such is the price of life. As in the fairy tale, when you have to give what you don't have. What was once in the future was too far away, too fragile and intangible. Then the most important and essential question was to survive. And the fact that I survived was tantamount to a miracle, because the doctors' prognosis was less than optimistic. Looking back, I realize that there was no other choice. Can't choose between life and looks. Life is an opportunity. Only sometimes it is more complicated... Today, thinking about those days in ten years, I would not choose another option. I just really wish that everyday life was gentler and more forgiving.
I'm growing up. I'm already a teenager. I dream about the future. I know a lot and I'm good at different things. The fact that my face doesn't grow like the rest of my body makes my life different. 365 days a year I am on some front line. You no longer have to fight for your life, but you have to fight with the demons of the outside world - judgmental and merciless looks and words of people. Tolerance is an abstract concept until we face real situations. Sometimes I think - what about nature? After all, there are all kinds of trees - thin, thick, crooked, tall... And it doesn't hurt them. Growing and so much...
But I'm a teenager. You probably know what that means. It is a time when friends play an increasingly important role in life, when opinions are often "yes or no" and colors are "black or white". Such is the body's chemistry. That's the time. I am well aware that a frequent passer-by glances at me and immediately forgets, because he may have even bigger problems than mine. But it's important to me. This is my life. And that physical facial otherness requires a lot of effort from me. Efforts to ignore, reconcile and re-engage with fears and inner demons. Trying to survive another day, sometimes very hard, sometimes easier. No matter how much effort I put in, no one will appreciate it.
The face and body are scanned and evaluated by people's eyes first. Random passers-by this filter will never cross. They won't know my story, who I am, what I dream about... For me, that will mean living another day in suspense... Unless something changes. And it seems that there is such a possibility. There is a chance to live DIFFERENTLY. During long consultations with doctors, it recently became clear that there is a way to help me - facial correction. Now it seems to me like an opportunity for a different life. Living without fear, with a smile and breathing with all your heart and lungs. I really want it to come true and I believe that I can succeed.
I told you my story, I let myself inside. I believe your help will help me grow. Will give me wings of hope. And then we will have a common story...
