The fight is not over yet. For Tim Lobinger, it has been clear since the beginning of the year that he has to be strong and fight again. He has to take what is probably the hardest path of his life once again. Since January 2018, the 45-year-old has known that he has cancer again. Things had looked good for the father of three. He first received the shocking diagnosis a year ago. He was diagnosed with plasma cell leukemia, a particularly aggressive form of blood cancer, in March 2017.
I knew the moment the professor came in with the senior physician - this was going to be no small matter. That's when the world came crashing down
Tim Lobinger explained on Markus Lanz's TV show on Wednesday evening.
The former competitive athlete survived five chemotherapies and a stem cell transplant. The cancer could no longer be detected. Until January 18 of this year.
Tim Lobinger: How much time does he have left?
Receiving the shock diagnosis a second time - a "devastating experience", as Tim Lobinger tearfully reported on Markus Lanz. "Up until then I was a picture-book patient, had survived five chemos and the bone marrow transplant with manageable complications - and then this," said the 45-year-old. The doctors do not give the father-of-three much hope. In fact, the second cancer is much harder to beat. Lobinger knows that too. Despite the gloomy prognosis of only one to two years to live, the pole vaulter is confident:
Losing is not an option. In the end, you're only as ill as you feel. I'm keen to do something professionally and that alone shows me that I'm on the right track health-wise.
Despite his irrepressible will to win, it became clear in the TV show how close the diagnosis is to him. Tim Lobinger repeatedly burst into tears, and the thought of his two-year-old son must be particularly difficult for him. The native of North Rhine-Westphalia said on TV that he wanted to pass on so many things to the little one.
We wish Tim Lobinger not only as much strength as he has shown so far on his difficult journey against the treacherous disease, but also enough time to give him the chance to show his son everything that a father wants to pass on to his son.