Help Katka pay for a liver transplant

Aim

Help Katka and Lenka with the costs of a liver transplant

A message from Katka:

I will have a liver transplant at the end of October thanks to Lenka being my donor. This radically changes the original prognosis given to me more than two years ago which was Terminal Stage 4 cancer of the colon with liver metastasis with a year to live. 

We are raising funds to cover the expenses related to the treatment. My surgery is covered by the health insurance in Czechia; but we need to pay for Lenka’s surgery (app. 340 000 CZK = £12.000). I have also been on an unpaid leave since September and will be without income for the next 5-7 months. We will be extremely happy for any contributions, it will make the situation a lot less stressful.

We made the calculations and in total, all expenses will be £22000.

In September 2025 I moved to Czechia as the NHS in the United Kingdom does not offer this type of treatment. Prague IKEM (Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine) is one of the world’s best transplant centres for this surgery, and they included me into their program super-fast. This procedure has 5-year survival of 76% compared to 10% if people stay only on chemotherapy. I am very lucky. 

The transplant will be done using a novel method RAPID that is done in two stages: 

1) they will take out my colon cancer and then take out the left side of my liver. Then they will take out a part of Lenka’s liver, operate on it and then give it to me. I will be in an induced sleep for a few days and they will wait for the new liver to grow (the size should double in a week).

2) I will then have the second operation to take out the right part of my original liver. Lenka should leave the hospital after a week, I should stay 3-4 weeks. The recovery will take some time, and the cancer threat will never go away. I will need to take immunosuppressants until the end of my life – but thanks to having an identical twin as a donor, it will most likely be the lowest dose possible. A half of people with colorectal cancer and liver metastasis with the liver transplant develop metastasis in lungs in 5 years. But that's a distant future. It involves a lot of hope (half of the people are cured) and I am incredibly happy for the amazing time now. 

Thank you all so much for your support and messages. They have helped me get through the hard moments I've had in the last 2 years. No words can express my gratitude to Lenka. Not only has she been looking after me with so much love and devotion, but will also have major surgery to save my life.

This project successfully funded on 12th November 2025