Alexander Shtilik has passed away
By admin. Filed in News |
In this picture, it looks as if Alexander wants to fly away. He has a smile on his face. Alexander had to undergo through nine years(!) of treatment for myeloblastosis. Today, at about 11 a.m., Alexander passed away. He doesn’t have any more pain or suffering. He was a very courageous guy with a big heart. Alexander completed his life journey. I want to give him a hug, shake his hand, and tap him on the shoulder so much! But it’s impossible. All I can say is, “See you, Alexander. See you soon.” And I will live in hope of our future meeting.
From the archives
Sasha Shtilik, DOB February 5, 1986, acute secondary myeloblastosis
You have probably heard a saying that you can’t enter the same river twice. What about three times? Can lightning strike the same tree twice? What about three times? The young man in this picture has experienced these things in his life astounding the doctors who consider his case very rare, if not impossible. In 2000, when Sasha was 14 years old, he was hospitalized with myeloblastosis. He spent almost a year at the hospital going through the chemotherapy. The treatment seemed to be successful and Sasha went back home. His only desire was never to go back to the hospital. But in autumn 2002 he got a relapse.
In March 2003, the doctors performed the bone marrow transplantation from a related donor (his brother). It is considered that the probability of relapse is very low five years or more after the surgery. It was summer 2008. Five years have passed after the surgery. Every time Sasha’s mother asked him to have some rest, he would always smile and say, “Mama, don’t treat me as if I am a sick child”. Of course, he is not a child any more. Now, when he is 22 years old, Sasha works and studies at the university. He also goes in for sports – arm-wrestling. He even won a silver medal at the competition they had in his city. Although he felt tired, his parents thought it was because he was involved in a lot of activities. Besides, summer was very hot that year. However, in August Sasha went to the hospital, where he was diagnozed with leukemia again. The doctors say Sasha is “lucky” because if it was his second relapse after bone marrow transplantation performed five years ago, he would have almost no chance to survive. Instead, this time there was another bone marrow cell involved, which made leukemia happen as if for the first-time. It is a very rare case. Therefore, there are almost no data available regarding the treatment of this disease. The doctors decided to perform bone marrow transplantation again. However, they are not sure whether it has to be done from a related donor, i.e., from his brother, mother, or father, or from a nonrelated donor. First, they have to get some analyses done.
For the time being, Sasha has completed the first block of chemotherapy blocks done. Soon he will have a punch done and will start the second block. Acute nature of the disease doesn’t give us much time for fundraising. We simply have no time. If the doctors decide to perform bone transplantation from a nonrelated donor, we will have to pay more than $100,000 in one of the foreign clinics. When I asked Sasha if it was worth going through all that treatment five years ago so that to fall sick again now, he said, “Yes, it was worth it. It was worth living such five years. And I will be thankful to God if He grants me five more years of life!”
You can reach Sasha’s mother Natalia at +38 095 682 0633