- It started indistinctly, the coach had memory lapses and “eat” the endings of words. The diagnosis was terrifying. The coach greeted her with dignity
- In his career, Kitliński worked with many future professional footballers, including the Polish national team. Many famous players can be auctioned during the charity tournament
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is extremely rare and currently incurable – expert explains
- More interesting stories can be found on the new website of Przegląd Sportowy Onet
– Already in November, my father lost weight, but we did not see anything disturbing about him. He did a lot of sports, so it felt normal. Then he had lapses in memory, he began to “eat” the endings of words. Father’s friends advised to see a doctor. After an MRI, doctors concluded it was encephalitis or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease — says Bowie, the coach’s son.
After a few days of examinations, the doctor left no illusions.
– Unfortunately, you have so little time, we can count it in quarters – he said directly.
The coach replied, “Everything is in God’s hands anyway.”
– It was shocking news for me, but I had to be strong since he was my father. We all think that only the end of his life is over and the next life is about to begin – says the coach’s son.
young educator
Jacek Kitliński has always been very religious. In his youth, he wondered if he should go to school, but he chose AWF. After graduation, he worked with young people, incl. In MKS Piaseczno. – Jacek was a very nice co-trainer. But most of all, he is a decent and fit person. He helped many boys in their careers, had experience and advised. He never expected anything in return – says Jaroslav Ludwinyak, vice-president of the Piasecno club. They played in teams led by Kitliński, among others Thomas Kubis and Mishaw Jankowski.
Kitliński was so prominent in the Warsaw coaching market that coach Zygmunt Ocimek offered him a job as an assistant at Mazovia 1990. Then, in 2001, the Federation decided to give him his youngest ten-year-old. – We had a role split. I toured matches, searched for, Jacek was a workshop technician, he conducted lessons. He was very involved. It was a strong group and we had a lot of success. We were the vice champions of Poland – says Team Principal Marek Zielinski. There were a few players who made their careers after that: Łukasz Teodorczyk, Mateusz Możdżeń, Łukasz Skowron, and Michał Kucharczyk.
The disease progresses more slowly
In recent years, Kitliński has worked with children at a school in Mroków and at the Orlęta Mroków and Walka Kosów clubs in Piaseczno poviat. He did not stop exercising.
– My father was training all the time, he was also very well-read and world class. Doctors say that thanks to this disease it develops more slowly – says Bowie. However, no one deceives themselves, no hope anymore. Today, the coach is unable to work alone. – Until recently, he could eat himself, but now, unfortunately, not. In fact, today we’re struggling to stay with my dad a little longer, so he can leave on his own terms, and stay on the move until the end – says Bowie Kitlinsky.
The coach’s friends organized a charity tournament for children’s teams for him, which will be held next Sunday at the city stadium in Piasecno from 9 am to 2 pm. During the tournament, there will be an auction of prizes for the players Kitliski has worked with at the club and the Mazowsze team. There are among others T-shirts by Łukasz Teodorczyk from Cherleroi, Mateusz Możdżeń from Lech, Michał Kucharczyk from Pogoń, gloves by Wojciech Szczęsny and Łukasz Skowron, as well as a Legia Warszawa shirt and a ball signed by members of the current Michniewicław team. So it’s a pretty cool group.
There is no hope
The coach’s son did not ask for help, but Marek Zelensky, who was the coach like his brother, pressed hard. – Dad feels this support, and I admit that it helps us too – says the son. Treatment in the palliative care center near Piasecno costs about 10 thousand. PLN per month. The teacher’s salary (about 3,000 PLN), family support, a son and two daughters make it possible to make ends meet, but this is very difficult.
Jacek is a wonderful guy, professional and helpful. We couldn’t leave him like this, he deserved help at the last minute – says Marek Zelensky.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is an incurable disease. Even early tests on humans were tried at Oxford, to no avail. The family of coach Kitliński also applied for the program, but it turned out that no registration is currently in progress.
There is no cure yet
Dr. Maciej Ilnicki, a specialist in neurology, radiology and neuroradiology from the Department of Neuroradiology at AK Altona in Hamburg, explains: – Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a serious degenerative disease of the nervous system caused by spongiform encephalopathy. 90 percent of cases make up the so-called variety of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Because of the rarity of this disease (0.5-1 per million inhabitants), it is still unknown to many clinicians. However, we most often associate it with the so-called mad cow disease that occurred in England in the 1980s.
The typical symptoms of the patient are progressive dementia, myoclonus (sudden, jerky, short-term muscle contractions – ed), sleep disturbances, then epilepsy symptoms occur, patients cannot leave the bed, leading to internal complications, such as pneumonia. The first common clue for diagnosing a suspected disease is an MRI, which shows a swelling of the cerebrospinal cortex and basal ganglia. Theta waves (slow wave complexes – spikes) are quite characteristic on the electroencephalogram. In addition, after the collection of cerebrospinal fluid, a pathological protein 14-3-3 can be found. In conclusion, given the rarity of the disease and the complexities of diagnosis, I recommend examination in specialized centers.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for this severe disease yet. We can extend a patient’s life (on average by a year) with effective physiotherapy and treatment of complications. Five percent of patients have the so-called chronic course, which is why appropriate treatment is so important – concludes the expert.
You can get sick, for example, by eating contaminated beef. It can also be a genetic disease. But with Jacek Kitliński, as at 80 percent. Other cases The source of the disease is unknown.
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