Lena Defeated Leukaemia: "I Hid My Tears and Fear Behind a Smile, but I Could Barely Breathe from Helplessness While My Daughter Was Undergoing Treatment"

When your child falls ill, life stops. The shock that a parent experiences upon hearing such a terrible diagnosis alters their sense of time—it no longer moves in the usual way. It only shifts forward when the treatment shows some progress, just enough for you to catch your breath, to prevent the pain and helplessness from breaking you completely. This is exactly what happened to Lena’s mother, Jelena Jelovac, when she heard the words: "Your daughter has high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukaemia." But her determination for her daughter to recover was stronger than anything.

"The most significant role in that moment was played by my former colleague, now a friend, who had battled leukaemia herself more than twenty years ago. She sent me an encouraging message. She gave me hope and the strength to fight even harder."

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We Spent a Year in the Hospital

Lena was treated at The Institute for Health Protection of Children and Youth of Vojvodina. For a year, she received intensive therapy, which she struggled to endure.

"The treatment was excessively long, exhausting, and turbulent. Because she was classified as high-risk, it was even tougher. She received much stronger doses of medication, the therapies were more aggressive, and the side effects were more frequent. Although there were periods between treatments when she could leave the hospital for short breaks, we rarely took advantage of them because Lena would often experience complications after each cycle of therapy that required hospital care."

Jelena says those were the most uncertain and difficult times for them.

"We spent exactly one year in the hospital. There were occasional, rare, and short visits home for rest. I remember the first time we were allowed to leave the hospital—it was after a full three months, and only for two or three days. After the hospital treatment ended, a new phase of treatment at home began. Lena had to take daily medication and occasionally return to the hospital for additional therapies. That part of the treatment lasted from March 2020 to June 2021. Since then, we have been going for regular check-ups—at first every three months, then every six months, and now once a year."

 Jelena is grateful that during Lena’s treatment, they had enormous support from family, friends, and colleagues.

"I still keep some of the messages, and there are moments I will never forget. They all 'kept us afloat' throughout Lena’s treatment. We are immensely grateful to them. Our good fortune in all of this was that we live close to the hospital, so Lena’s dad was able to visit her every day, sometimes even multiple times a day, which meant she didn’t have to deal with missing him too."

A Hospital Room is a Place of the Most Genuine Tears and Laughter

The mothers whose children were undergoing treatment at the same time were, however, their greatest support—because no one understood what they were going through better than they did. That fear when a child’s temperature spikes, or the anxiety while waiting for blood test results.

"We lived through similar fates together—we comforted and encouraged each other when needed, we cried together, but we also laughed, celebrated small victories, and rejoiced whenever someone was discharged, even if only for a short break. I have never seen more sincere tears and laughter than in the hospital. I still keep in touch with some of those mothers to this day. Each one of them holds a special place in my life. Only they truly understand the fear that every one of us felt when our child developed a fever, or that dreadful anticipation while waiting for blood test results."

The Struggles Began When Lena Saw a Needle

Lena coped with the treatment quite well despite being very sensitive, but her greatest struggles arose whenever she saw a needle.

"The biggest challenge was blood tests, inserting IV cannulas, and, in general, anything involving needles and pain. The hardest thing for me was that there was no way to calm her down or prepare her for such procedures. Despite this, she remained a cheerful little girl—she loved wearing colourful dresses and skirts that she would twirl in, adorning herself with jewellery, singing, and listening to music. In the hospital, she made new friends and often played with them. We never spoke about the diagnosis or how serious it was—she was too young to understand. I believe it is very important not to burden children with our fears, to let them be children, and not to limit them. They instinctively know their own boundaries."

Today, Lena is Healthy and Smiling

Years have passed since Lena’s hospital stay and her fight for life. Today, she is a happy and healthy girl who enjoys painting, loves horses, and practices gymnastics.

"If I could turn back time, I would have played with her even more during that period in the hospital. But it is easy to say now what we would have done differently—back then, we surely did the best we could. It is not easy to be surrounded by other families’ struggles, to hide your tears and fear, and to keep smiling when you can barely breathe from helplessness."