Having beaten cancer twice, he has now taken on the role of model at a social evening

Among the eleven participants in the show, the only male representative. “I feel very comfortable in this company, I have no stage fright,” a man of almost 80 years of age, whose vigor could be envied by much younger generations, said with a smile on his lips in Novinkám on Práva in front of the promenade.

“I had colon cancer in 2004. I underwent a classic operation, followed by preventive examinations at the oncology clinic. In 2016 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. So I decided to turn to the Proton Center in Prague 8 and see if I could be a suitable patient,” said Mikulčák in costume from the opera Její pastorkyňa.

“This was my very reasonable decision and one of the best, because the proton beam treatment method is far better than the usual method,” he said. The treatment lasted two years and he has been doing well ever since.

There he met Jitka Abrahámová, general practitioner emeritus and director of the Faculty of Thomayer Hospital and the First Medical Faculty of Charles University in Prague, who currently works as a leading clinical oncologist at the Czech Proton Therapy Center in Prague and holds the role as chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation fund.

“I don’t know who suggested that she refresh the show, which until then had only been attended by her breast cancer patients, with a male element. When she turned to me, I nodded,” she said of how she he is found in the role of model. For the fourth time this year.

He admitted to Novinky and Práv that when he heard the cruel verdict again, he remained absolutely optimistic. “I knew I had to beat that bastard. I didn’t give up,” says the Prague beekeeper and traveler to the Czech Republic and other countries enthusiastically.

One of the activities is Social Self-Awareness for Everyday evenings, which reminds people of the severity of the disease and looks for ways to cope with it. Originally, models on the catwalk shone in clothes from fashion salons.

“They also showed their clothes so that even with their handicap it could be seen that they could do anything and have self-confidence,” the doctor stressed. But then the clothing company went bankrupt. “It was hard work finding the halls, Luděk Vele, the soloist from the National Theater who sang for us, came, and with him the theater costumes,” explained the current outfit.

Breast cancer is the most common malignant disease in women, with 7,600 new cases diagnosed in the Czech Republic in 2022. Among the opposite sex, prostate cancer leads the way, with over 8,000 new men affected in the same year. And cases continue to increase. “The good news is that the mortality rate does not increase proportionally,” assures Abrahámová, who has been working in active medicine for 57 years. According to her, on the one hand, thanks to advanced medicine, and above all thanks to screening programs that identify the disease in its initial stages.

“I wanted to do something that had a great perspective and at the same time was not completely traditional. At that time my classmates thought that I wanted to do oncology,” smiles the woman who was at the origin of the successful treatment of one of the most serious problems of the time, testicular cancer. “It was fascinating. Back then 99 percent of men died, today 99 percent are alive,” explains Abrahámová, who comes to the proton center two days a week. “I can’t imagine being at home. I would bite,” she laughs.