On the occasion of World Lymphoma Awareness Day, which is marked on September 15th, the Croatian Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (HULL) organized events which were video-linked in six cities in Croatia (Zagreb, Donji Miholjac, Rijeka, Slavonski Brod..)
The program in Zagreb took place at Novinarski Dom where the marking of World Lymphoma Awareness Day was attended by top doctors, hematologists from the Clinical Hospital Center Zagreb (Rebro), as well as by patients, mostly those suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The aim of the program was for the doctors and patients to interact and come to some conclusions about the main problems that the patients must face throughout their long and difficult treatment.
The issues identified by all the patients from the six cities that were included in the program were the unfortunate bureaucratic hurdles in the procurement of the necessary medicines and therapies needed for treatment and the lack of psychological, that is, psychiatric help for patients and their family members.
However, the patients who were treated at the Clinical Hospital Center Zagreb (Rebro) pointed out the excellence of the doctors, their relationships with patients, their availability and warm human communication as something that meant a lot on their road to healing. Sometimes a warm human word and comfort is the most important thing in the healing process.