My name is Vanessa, I’m a nurse at Aachen University Hospital.
Before that I lived in Dortmund and for a while in the Sauerland, but I like Aachen best!
I was diagnosed with retinoblastoma when I was 3 months old and didn’t know much about it at that age.
I only knew from hearsay that we had to visit a lot of doctors back then and were then referred directly to Essen because the eye had to be removed.
I’ve been living with it for a long time now and there are still many years to go, but it’s part of me, I feel comfortable with it, I’m happy, I have an education, a boyfriend, lots of lovely people around me and I can live!
That’s why I’m also in favor of KAKS!
What KAKS does today is something I would have liked very much in certain situations:
contact persons, support for children, people who have had the same – with problems at school or dealing with bullying, a conscious approach to the illness, help when you feel alone.
KAKS offers me a network of which I am a part, a network in which people stick together and are always there for each other.
What I would like to say to you: live, be happy and shine with the sun, life is beautiful – even with just one eye!

Vanessa
Encourager