Cancer Kids Ukraine

Although we got the results of the histochemical analysis on January 28, we couldn’t find the words to tell you about it. Unfortunately, the results confirmed our worst fears – Maxim has small cell adenocarcinoma of the lungs and upper bronchi with metastases in the liver and bones. Maxim started light dose chemotherapy last week because he had hard times breathing. The tumor cannot be removed. The hospital in Kiev refused to admit Maxim because of the very high risk of lethal outcome during the surgery due to the distant metastases. The doctors said Maxim should have been operated several months ago. Maxim’s mother is in tears. She doesn’t say anything to Maxim. However, I think he understands everything. Please, pray for Maxim and his mother Victoria. For the time being he doesn’t need any financial support.    

It looks like all the diseases came together upon one 15-year-old girl. It started with earache, hearing loss, pus removal, and drainages. Then in the local hospital she was “accidentally” diagnosed with acute myeloblastosis. This diagnosis was confirmed by the specialists in Kiev. Then during the blood transfusion the pus started pouring out of her ear. Then she was diagnosed with left-side pneumonia. But it was impossible to delay the chemotherapy because her blood count was too low. So, Nastya started the first block, which meant a lot of chemotherapy drugs and donors, donors, donors… And now she is diagnosed with hepatitis C. She probably got it with the donor blood. The doctors are now worried if Nastya can continue the chemotherapy. Chemotherapy in itself has severe side effects on the liver. In Nastya’s case, her liver is already affected by hepatitis C. Besides, she has an infection in her lungs and ears, which is very dangerous if accompanied by low blood count. Nastya desperately needs financial support. She doesn’t have anyone but you to help her.

On my way to the Cancer Institute, where I was supposed to meet Stas and his mother Elena, I was thinking about where I should go to ask for help for this teenager. I already knew that Stas is a grown-up boy, if that’s what we can say about a 16-year-old teenager, that he is not very sociable, that he comes from a low-income family. His mother is a woman with sadness but hope in her eyes. She had very hard times telling me a story about her son’s sickness. Last year Stas started complaining about pain in his leg. But nobody paid attention to that. Who would panic about a bruise? But several months later, when the pain became unbearable, Stas went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma. He started the treatment in Kharkov. Now he is in Kiev undergoing the chemotherapy. He has a lot of complications. Stas became even less sociable. He doesn’t want to talk even to his younger brother. When Elena started talking about her younger son, who is only 4 years old, she started crying. Her younger son is now at home with her husband. (more…)

Several months ago Alla Spyak had an endoprosthesis removed. Instead, they installed a spacer with antibiotic to fight the staphylococcus. At the end of December 2009 Alla came back to Kiev to have the endoprosthesis reinstalled but… The doctors said the bone in her leg was severely damaged and most likely would not be able to hold a new implant. The verdict of the doctors is amputation of the leg. Just imagine how Alla, who is only 16 years old, felt when they told her about it. They give as little as 10% chance for recovery. Or as much as 10%. Alla and her parents decided that 10% is still a chance. Alla has been fighting cancer for three years. Her parents have spent all their savings. Alla’s mother is at the hospital now as well – at the neurology department. The only breadwinner is her father. This family really needs financial assistance. Help them, please. (more…)

We have very disturbing news about Nastya Gorobets. MRI has shown the negative dynamics, i.e., the tumor is growing. Now it’s 8.9 x 12.7 x 8.6cm. She also got an atrophy of the optic nerves. Nastya’s weight now is 5.4kg, the circumference of her head is 48cm. When Natya’s mother called us, she didn’t ask us for anything other than prayers. Please, keep this little girl and her mother in your prayers.

We have urgent news about Vlad Versal. He was transferred to the intensive care unit. He has an extremely low blood count and is in critical condition. Vlad keeps asking his mother, “Mom, will I die?” Vlad’s family has to pay for his treatment at the intensive care unit. They have to buy everything - medications, syringes, etc. They also have to pay for all the tests. This family is asking for help. They have spent all the money that they have. They don’t have even anyone to borrow the money from. If you don’t help Vlad now, he will most certainly die very soon if not of cancer but of not having the money for medications. His parents are desperate. Please, help them!

I don’t know where to start. Let me try to start from the good news. Yura Surzhikov is not only able to breathe on his own now, he is also able to swallow. Yesterday I saw him walking while holding on to the rail. That’s how much he wants to live! Now some bad news. On Monday, Yura’s mother is going back home leaving her son with a babysitter or to be more exact with several babysitters, who will be taking turns. Yura’s mother is unable to provide the care he needs. That’s why she is leaving home. But we shouldn’t leave him! Yura needs an adult with him at all times. He needs help with feeding, administering chemotherapy drugs, etc. Discharging him from this hospital in this condition will equal to death. It would be unfair to him after so many months of fight against cancer. Please, help Yura. He needs money to pay for the services of the babysitters. He also needs money for food, clothes, shoes, bed sheets, toys, books.

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I haven’t published any news about Ivan Sikerko for a while. Some time ago Ivan was undergoing treatment in Kiev but now he is at the hospital in Ivano-Frankovsk. I felt very uncomfortable about calling his mother because a couple of months ago I learned that Ivan got problems with the lymph node on his neck again. His parents didn’t have money to take him to Moscow for the examination. I would still feel uncomfortable if not Anna Raikhel’s mother, who asked me to find out the news about Ivan. So, I pulled myself together and gave Ivan’s parents a phone call. Here is the news about him. (more…)

Bogdan Pirogovskiy is undergoing treatment in Lutsk. He will spend several more days at home. On Monday, September 21, he will have to resume the treatment. He needs Temodal. Bogdan’s father went to Kiev to the Cancer Institute hoping to get some Temodal for his son there. However, the Cancer Institute had no Temodal in stock. It means Bogdan’s parents will have to buy this drug on their own. Bogdan needs 10 pills (100mg). The charity fund Alisa agreed to cover 50% of the cost of this medication, which means we need to raise $890 to cover the balance.

Masha Hvan-Haren has completed another block of chemotherapy and left for Belarus with her parents, where she will have a medical examination done. Based on its results, the doctors in Belarus will prescribe her further treatment that she will undergo in Chernigov. The chemotherapy turned out to be effective. Masha feels better now. She has good appetite. She also walks and smiles. Although her blood count goes up and down and she receives regular blood transfusions, her parents are optimistic about the outcome of the treatment. They want to continue their fight against cancer.

Yesterday, Tanya had a blood test done. The results showed 35% of blast cells. It means that Tanya has not achieved a remission. It means that the cancer has been progressing and doesn’t want to back out. The doctors had to start the second block of chemotherapy for her today as a matter of urgency. It is a very serious block under another protocol. Tanya needs financial support for buying the medications as soon as possible. She needs Cytosar, Cyclophosphan, Prednisolone, Osetron, Givalex, Tantum Verde, saline solution, and glucose. Tanya needs all these medications before September 10. During her stay at the intensive care unit from June till August, Tanya’s mother spent almost $4,000 on medications, donor blood, testing of the blood donors, and thrombocyte concentrate. We know for a fact that she will have to pay at least the same amount of money for the second block of chemotherapy. Just to give you an idea, one test of the donor blood costs about $50. Usually, the blood of only 1 donor out of 3 or 4 can be used for the blood transfusions. Please, help Tanya and pray for her.

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Eduard Zubovnik has an asthenic shock. The doctors are doing their best to save his life. Just to remind you, Eduard has completed the fourth block of chemotherapy. Each block was accompanied by severe complications. This time he has problems with the intestinal tract. Eduard lost a lot of weight. He is very weak now. He starts vomiting every time he sees food. He is receiving nutritional support now. Eduard’s condition got even worse today. He got an extremely low blood pressure and body temperature. He has achieved a crucial moment in his treatment. Eduard is 15 years old. He is from Kiev. He fell sick with myeloblastosis in January 2009. Provided that the treatment is successful, Eduard will need an allogenic bone marrow transplantation due to a very high risk of relapse. His parents have already mailed the paperwork to Vienna, where the clinic has started a donor search.

Mariana Glushak has passed away. She turned 18 years old on August 20. Mariana had an early intramedullary relapse of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Oleg Skryaga is not doing well. To speak plainly, the treatment turned out to be ineffective. Oleg gets more and more metastases in his lungs. The last chance he has is radiotherapy at the local hospital in Cherkassy, where he is going with his grandma tomorrow. The doctors don’t think he has more than 10% chance of survival. Please, pray for this boy and his family. Oleg’s grandmother is with him all the time. His mother and younger sister are at home. Oleg also needs your financial support.

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Writing this article I’ve got two things in mind. On the one hand, I’d like to share the recent news about little patients staying at the hospitals abroad. Some of them have already had a bone marrow transplantation. The others are planning to have it. On the other hand, by writing about these kids I’d like to demonstrate that impossible things become possible! Just look how many kids left for bone marrow transplantation this summer! It means that the money for the bone marrow transplant can be raised (even though partially for some of our patients)! To a large extent, the fundraising goals have been achieved thanks to the money donated by the readers of our website, as well as by the other caring people. Thank you all very and very much! So here’s the story about our little BMT patients. (more…)

The surgery was successful. Victor had four metastases removed from the right lung. The doctors also implanted an endoprosthesis 35cm long in place of the bottom part of the knee-cap and the shinbone. Although Victor is a very patient and strong boy, he told us about the raging pain he had. He will need another surgery for the removal of the metastasis from his left lung, which should be followed by the chemotherapy. Victor will need approximately 11 blocks of chemotherapy. But for now we are waiting for the results of the histologic analysis and for the improvement of Victor’s health condition. His mother will not have to pay for the endoprosthesis because it is a second-hand endoprosthesis and has been already paid for by someone else. However, this family doesn’t have money even for the basics, such as medications and food. They need your support.  Just to remind you, Victor was diagnozed with osteoblastic sarcoma of the upper third of the right shin bone (stage II) with metastases in the lungs and progression of the neoplastic process. (more…)

Christina Tabatskaya got the third relapse of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Since this girl also has Down syndrome, the doctors chose not to give her the chemotherapy again. They think Christina will most likely have a heart failure if she starts the chemotherapy. Christina’s mother now hopes only for God’s mercy. She wants to take her daughter to a couple of monasteries where she could pray for her healing. However, she cannot afford going there and is asking for help. Christina and her mother need approximately $125 to make this trip possible. If God puts it on your heart to help this girl, please do so.

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Daniel Velichko passed away on August 11. He had a relapse of neuroblastoma and secondary hybrid leukemia. Daniel was eight years old.

Mark Shipulya passed away on August 12 at about 3:30 p.m. This boy carried his cross with humility and patience up to the very last moment of his life.

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Alexander Perevertailo passed away on August 9. He was the second youngest child in the family of seven kids. Alexander was five years old and died of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. (more…)

We have already published the news about Nadya Kremenetskaya, who was diagnosed with an early relapse of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Due to her young age (Nadya is only a year and a half old) and a very early relapse, the doctors suggested the only option – palliative care at home. However, they still decided to give Nadya a chance and started the chemotherapy. Surprisingly enough, Nadya achieved the remission on the fifteenth day of treatment! It was a real surprise for everyone. Now the doctors are more positive about the outcome of the treatment. They also suggest that Nadya should have a bone marrow transplant from a non-related donor. At the same time, they doubt that her parents will be able to raise the money for it.  Now Nadya is undergoing the chemotherapy in Chernovtsy. As soon as her blood count gets better, she will go to Kiev for the radiotherapy. Then she will need a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, her parents cannot afford this very expensive surgery. They have already spent all their savings on Nadya’s treatment. We’ve got several pictures today from Nadya’s parents. You can see her walking and smiling. It is so sad to realize that her sweet smile has a price tag – somewhere around 150,000 EURO, which her parents don’t have. Please, help this baby.

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Alina Kisil passed away on August 3, 2009. She died at home. The doctors discharged Alina from the hospital about a month ago because the treatment was not effective any more. Alina’s parents decided that their daughter had to spend the rest of her life at home without painful medical procedures. At first, Alina got very excited about coming back home. She had good appetite for a week. But then she lost appetite and didn’t move until the last moment of her life. Now her sufferings are over…

Ulyana Bandurka passed away on August 2 at noon. Ulyana was a very bright, cheerful, playful, and kind girl. Up to her last moment she treated her disease as something temporal. She believed she would get better and would be able to run around and pick flowers again. Today Ulyana became an angel. She doesn’t have pain or fear any more. She doesn’t have a ceiling and four walls surrounding her. Thank you for being in the lives of those people who loved you. We couldn’t help loving you. You could warm up our souls with your smile. You will always be in our hearts. (more…)

Last month Sergei Stepanenko came back from Moscow where he was seen by the doctor specializing in the desmoid tumors. She prescribed the following treatment to Sergei: 3-month chemotherapy, computer tomography, and surgery. Sergei needs 16 vials of Vinblastine for the chemotherapy. His mother will also have to pay about $5,200 for his surgery in Moscow (this type of surgery cannot be performed in Ukraine), not to mention the cost of transportation, accommodations, and food. This family is asking you for help.

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Bogdan Balashov passed away on August 10. Dozens and dozens of people were connected to this child through their prayers and love. Bogdan was the youngest child in the family of six kids. (more…)

Why do the children suffer? Why do the children die? Why is it MY child? What to do, how to save? Why, why, why… These are the questions haunting Eugenia, Valeria’s mother, days and nights. The questions to wake up with and to clasp to her breast the tiny, helpless girl. This all began as if in a dream – a young couple, loving husband, long-awaited baby-girl who made enormously happy the whole family - the parents, grandmas and granddads… The problems started in the early 2009 when little Valeria lost her appetite and became moody, which the parents first regarded as nothing but the child’s whims. However, on March 18, 2009, the girl complained about horrible abdominal pains. They took her to the hospital where ultrasound examination unexpectedly showed a large solid space-occupying lesion in the retroperitoneal space.

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Dasha Sorokina lives in Sevastopol together with her parents and elder sister. A couple of months ago, Dasha started complaining about double vision. At first, Dasha’s parents took her to the ophthalmologist. Then she was referred to the neurologist. Three days later she was diagnozed with brainstem tumor. All of a sudden the whole world turned upside down for this family. The life before was about a playful and cheerful little girl, a grade 3 student attending the dance school and the music school. The life after is about cancer. On June 27, Dasha had a very complicated surgery done. The results of the histologic analysis showed astrocytoma, stage III. The tumor was removed only partially. Dasha needs to start the radiotherapy as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the hospitals in Ukraine don’t have the radiotherapy equipment with linear accelerators. Dasha will have to go abroad. The hospital in Debretsen (Hungary) agreed to take her for treatment.

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Irene Olvinskaya has completed the treatment! We would like to say thank you to everyone who offered their support to this orphan. If not your help, she wouldn’t be able to complete the treatment. Now she is on her way back to the orphanage. Irene always knew she could count on you. She still needs help with purchasing Intron A. Irene will need 2 vials of Intron A per month. Ruslan Martynenko has almost completed the treatment as well. He has only one block of radiotherapy left. Ruslan is looking forward to going back home. He is really happy about it. (more…)

We would like to say thanks to everyone helping Karina Svistun financially and emotionally, to everyone visiting her at the hospital and praying for her. Karina needs your support very much. Please, don’t forget about this little girl. She still has a very long way to go towards complete recovery. Karina has completed the fourth block of chemotherapy. The surgery for implantation of the extendable endoprosthesis is scheduled for the middle of September. Karina will need to undergo two more blocks of chemotherapy before she can have a surgery. After the surgery, she will need 8 more blocks of chemotherapy. The tumor is responding to the treatment. It’s getting smaller. Karina has every chance to overcome cancer!

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Yuriy Bachuk went back to Rovno to continue treatment. Unfortunately, the cough that he had was not a symptom of cold. An X-ray showed multiple metastases in his lungs. Yuriy has completed the fourth and the fifth blocks of chemotherapy. In Rovno, he will need to complete one more block with Holoxan and then to have a surgery, which is scheduled for early September. Three weeks before the surgery, Yuriy’s parents will have to pay $1,000 for the shoulder endprosthesis. The results of the recent medical examination are very encouraging. The tumor is responding to the treatment. It is resectable now, which was not the case a couple of weeks ago. However, Yuriy still has the metastases. We would like to say thank you to everyone supporting this family. Yuriy also says thanks for the LEGO, portable DVD player, and DVDs. This is a very modest family. Every time we asked Yuriy’s father if he needed anything, he would always say, “Thank you very much. You have helped us already. We try to use the money very sparingly. There are a lot of other children at the hospital. All of them need help. We are not the only ones.” However, this time Yuriy’s father was the first to call us and ask for help with buying the endoprosthesis. It means he doesn’t have any other choice but to ask us for help. It means we must help!

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Edmond Padalko passed away today, at 8 a.m. He will not have any more pain. Please, pray for his adoptive parents Snezhana and Alexander, as well as for his brothers and sisters, for whom it’s a very grievous loss. (more…)

Oleg Senin came to Kiev four days ago. He has been staying at the Chernobyl Center. The doctors have confirmed the myelodysplastic syndrome. They also confirmed a need to perform the allogenic bone marrow transplantation. However, there is one ‘but’ in this story. The doctors in Kiev got shocked when they saw the results of Oleg’s blood tests. In short, he wasn’t receiving proper treatment while staying at the local hospital in Dnepropetrovsk. Oleg has to get regular blood transfusions now because he has almost zero thrombocyte count. The bone marrow transplantation is impossible with such a low thrombocyte count. He also has to take the medication that has just recently been developed for the treatment of the myelodysplastic syndrome. This medication induces the remission and maintains it for about a year. This drug also prevents the myelodysplastic syndrome from transforming into the leukemia. Oleg will need four courses of this medication that will cost more than $40,000 altogether.

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Katya Batsurovskaya has passed away. She had a cystic tumor of the brainstem. Katya was 11 years old.

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. (more…)

Yesterday, Elena Skripka passed away. I loved this girl so much! I also know that I was not the only one who loved her. Dozens, if not hundreds, of people prayed for Elena, raised money for her treatment, worried about her. Elena was diagnozed with ovarian cancer with metastases back in 2007. I don’t know how she managed to endure so much suffering, especially during the last two months of her life. The pain that she had was merely unbearable. Honestly speaking, I cried right in front of the computer monitor when I read an email from her saying, “I am all right. Just sometimes I have some pain…” I cried because I knew what type of pain it was! But that’s just the way Elena was. She apologized for being “out of shape” to her grandfather who came to see her a few days before she died. She was encouraging her parents and friends. Elena was a very strong girl. She was a very wise girl. She was a very beautiful girl. She was a very cheerful girl. She was a very kind girl. She was a very just girl. She was a very, very, very… I don’t think I will need any more words to tell you about how much people loved her. We love you, Elena. We will always love you, no matter where you would be. Thank you for being in our lives!

Olga Netyuhailo passed away on July 18. Now she doesn’t have any more pain. Olga suffered so much during the last few weeks of her life. She was at the intensive care unit because her lungs and kidneys didn’t function any more. We would like to say thank you to everyone who was with Olga, who was supporting her, who prayed for her… Olga, you will always be in our hearts! (more…)

Larisa Romanenko passed away today. She completed two blocks of high-dose chemotherapy with a lot of complications. She was dreaming to go to Minsk (Belarus) for the bone marrow transplantation. She got an intense headache last night. The doctors think it was caused by the cephaledema. A few hours later she passed away. We have hard time believing Larisa has left us for good. Unfortunately, this is the reality. Larisa was a very courageous girl. She was patiently enduring all the complications and severe pain that she had. (more…)

Igor Savchenko urgently started a block of chemotherapy today in Moscow. Although the results of the histologic analysis are not ready yet, the doctors still decided to start the block of chemotherapy because the doctors in Kiev wasted a lot of time and simply delayed Igor’s treatment. We were literally begging them to give Igor a surgery but they refused to do so. Igor will have three days of chemotherapy. The results of the histologic analysis will be ready next Monday. The only concern the doctors have is that the results will show two different types of cancer. As soon as Igor has the staples removed on Tuesday, he will go back to Kiev with the recommendations regarding his further treatment. Igor’s mother has already paid $4,000 to the hospital, which covered 6 bed-days, anesthesia, laboratory tests, treatment at the intensive care unit, and histologic analysis. However, she needs to pay $2,000 for 6 more bed-days. This amount of money is way too heavy for a family of five that has only one breadwinner. Please, help Igor. He has to complete the treatment. No other hospital, including the National Cancer Institute in Kiev, will admit him for treatment. He can complete it only in Moscow, where he is right now.

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Bogdan Shevchenko passed away on July 14. He left for good. He left for a place where there is no pain or suffering. He has completed a journey that was too hard for a boy of his age. I talked to his mother yesterday. She said, “I understand everything. But it’s my child and my heart doesn’t want to let him go.” Nobody wanted to let Bogdan go. Everyone was waiting for a Miracle. Everyone believed he would get better. Everyone prayed… Ten days ago I saw Bogdan off. He was going home with his parents. They were planning to go Pochaev Lavra. They never made it there. Bogdan was in a bad mood and didn’t even want to talk to me. But before leaving, he gave me a smile and waived his hand. He was so good-looking at that moment! That’s how I want to remember him: smiling and waiving goodbye. That’s how I would like you to remember him: a teenager with a trace of sadness in his eyes and a unique smile. (more…)

Dasha Korchak passed away on July 13, early in the morning. Dasha had to go through a lot of unbearable suffering during the last few days of her life. In addition to the intense pain, she also had difficulties breathing. She even had to sleep while sitting because she couldn’t lie down. However, she still wanted to live. She believed she would get better and would win a victory over her disease. Despite severe pain and deterioration of her health, she was dreaming about going to the seaside this summer, about going to her friend’s wedding, about eating green apples she liked so much. She would have celebrated her fourteenth birthday in two months. Dasha had been fighting against cancer for two years. But she had never been alone because her parents, blood donors, volunteers, and sponsors had always been with her. They were always ready to donate their blood, money, and time to her. Your support was giving Dasha faith, strength, and hope. But now it’s all over for her. She has no more pain and suffering. Dasha has completed this very difficult journey. Her family says thank you to everyone for your help. (more…)

Julia Sinezhuk is at the Cancer Institute in Kiev. She is starting a 3-day megadose chemotherapy block on July 24. It will be followed by the collection of the stem cells. She will have a very low blood count as a result of this block. Julia will need 8 ampules Granocite. Altogether, it will cost $1940. I will say it again for you and for myself: one thousand nine hundred and forty dollars. I have no idea how we are going to raise that much money. The Cancer Institute in Kiev used to have no problems with the supplies of the medications for their patients. However, they barely have any medications in stock right now, although these medications are vitally important. Why? The answer is simple - the country is in the economic recession. We hope these are temporal difficulties and the situation will change for the better soon. We don’t know when/if the hospital will get the medications. But what we do know is that Julia Sinezhuk will need 8 ampules of Granocite by the end of July.

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These are two pictures of Victoria Kozeleva. The picture on the left has been taken just recently. The picture on the right was taken two years ago, when she completed the treatment for neuroblastoma. She was referred to the high-risk group due to her age and type of the neuroblastoma (stage IV). However, Victoria was able to achieve the remission and came back to normal life. She went back to school, learned how to use the computer and Internet. Unfortunately, the disease came back. Victoria got a relapse. Last winter she started complaining about pain in her bones and got difficulties walking. However, the doctor at the local hospital explained it with the “bad weather conditions.” Victoria’s mother put all her savings together and took Victoria to St. Petersburg for MIBG test, which showed a relapse with significant damage of the bones.

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Vladimir Naumenko has made a lot of progress in learning how to walk with a prosthesis. Although he is still using the crutches, the doctors say he will be able to walk without them very soon. Vladimir and his parents say thank you to everyone for helping them with buying the prosthesis. They wouldn’t be able to buy it without your financial assistance. Thank you very much!

It’s July now. The sun is shining brightly. It’s a time of vacations. It is a time of joy but not for everyone. An 18-year-old young man, Oleg Senin, is not sure he will have another summer next year. He is not sure because he is sick. Oleg is very sick. He lives with hope that one day his mother will enter his ward and say, “Oleg, get ready. We are leaving. We have raised the money for the bone marrow transplantation.” But for now it’s nothing but the dreams – the dreams not about a new laptop or a fancy cell phone but about getting a chance to live. Oleg’s disease is curable. However, it cannot be treated in Ukraine where the allogenic bone marrow transplantations are not performed due to the legislative restrictions. Bone marrow transplantation can be done almost anywhere in the world – in Russia, Belarus, Israel, Germany, USA, Italy, Canada, etc. Almost anywhere but not in Ukraine.

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Anna Avdyukhina has passed away.  We wanted you to live so much, in spite of your life threatening disease. We realized what your diagnosis meant from the very beginning. However, we hoped the miracle would happen. And it did happen: it was a miracle to spend the last four months of your life next to you. We were happy when you smiled, when you recited the poems and nursery rhymes. We wanted to save your life and truly believed we would. You gave us Faith. You gave us Hope. You changed our souls. We tried our best to do everything we could to make you smile. Our hearts used to sink every day when we waited for the results of the blood test. Yesterday morning you were looking at your parents, asking them something, saying how much you loved them. But yesterday afternoon God called you home.

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The results of the examination Artyom Vitruk had in Moscow are very encouraging: his organism is responding to treatment. Artyom also had a computer tomography done upon completion of three blocks of chemotherapy. It showed a significant reduction of the tumor in size. Now Artyom is undergoing the fourth block of chemotherapy, which will last for five days. Then he will need to go to Moscow again for MBG. Artyom will possibly need a bone marrow transplant. But for now his mother is asking for financial assistance with taking Artyom to Moscow for MBG. She won’t be able to afford it without your help.

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Nastya Stepanova passed away last night at 4 a.m. Nastya didn’t feel well for the last several weeks of her life. She had fever and low blood count. However, she recovered consciousness completed shortly before dieing. She gave a smile to her mother and… passed away. We would like to say thank you to everyone who was helping this family. Nastya could feel your support. She was excited about every present she got from you. We would also like to say thank you to a lady who wired a money transfer to Nastya just a couple of days ago. Nastya’s family will spend this money on the funerals… (more…)

We’ve got a request for help from Valeria Cherkashina. Some time ago, the mother of the deceased Artyom Baistryuchenko asked us to take care of this girl, who has the same diagnosis as Artyom. Valeria needs 7 more blocks of chemotherapy. Hopefully, she will be able to complete the chemotherapy some time around February next year. Valeria is very weak. She has problems with a low blood count. Her mother is a very nice lady. She asked us to say thank you for the donation of $70. Unfortunately, it was the only donation she got. Please, help this family. They are trying their best to fight the disease on their own. They are very grateful people and appreciate any help. Valeria likes coloring books. That would be great, if someone could send some coloring books and crayons to her. Valeria’s parents don’t have money even for such minor things. (more…)

Mark Shipulya is still at the intensive care unit in Dnepropetrovsk. He is in stable condition. Mark is conscious. He wants to live so much! He fights for every day of his life. And each day of his life has a price tag – from $80 to $125, depending on the type of medications he needs. Both Mark and his parents do everything they can in order to get discharged from the intensive care unit and to start the chemotherapy. Unfortunately, Mark got one more problem: Candida geotrificum (an infection of the respiratory system). He got it while using the artificial respiration unit for a few days after the surgery.

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Taras came back from the hospital in Moscow, where he was examined by the immunologists. They confirmed the diagnosis - neutropenia associated with hyperimmunoglobulin M syndrome and X-lined recession functions. However, the doctors had different opinions about Taras’ further treatment: whether to try to continue the therapy with the colony-stimulating factor or to perform the allogenic bone marrow transplantation. Since Taras’ parents don’t have money for the allogenic bone marrow transplantation, they decided to try to continue the therapy with the colony-stimulating factor. However, they won’t be able to do even that, if we don’t help them. Taras needs expensive medications, such as Filgrastim (or Granocyte) and Venoimun, all the time. These medications are expensive: Granocyte costs $230, Venoimun costs almost $100. Please, help Taras’ parents buy these medications. Taras’ mother is on a maternity leave. His father is looking after the elderly grandmother in the country. The only income they have is pension checks of their grandmothers.

Nikolai was fighting for his life up to the last moment. He had several cardiac arrests last week. But at 2 a.m. last night his heart stopped beating for good… It’s very hard to believe in his death. Not so long ago he used to run in the botanic garden, played in the game room and all of a sudden - a stroke… cardiac arrest… coma… death… It looks absurd. It should be that way… (more…)

As of today, Yaroslav’s health condition is the gravest, compared with the rest of children undergoing treatment at the oncohematology department in Donetsk. He also desperately needs financial assistance. His parents are up in their age. They have two other children and also look after a grandfather, who is 81 years old. Yaroslav’s father used to be a coal miner. But he had to retire after he had a heart attack a couple of years ago. His pension check is only $200 a month. Yaroslav wouldn’t have been able even to start the treatment, if not the money donated by Vadim from Kiev and our volunteer Lubov Vorona from Donetsk.

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We have good news about Mark Shipulya. He spent several days in coma. He couldn’t even breathe on his own. Now Mark has recovered consciousness and can breathe without support. The doctors think he will need to spend a couple more days at the intensive care unit until his condition stabilizes. Mark has spent 6 days at the intensive care unit. His parents have to pay approximately $100 for each day of his stay there. Mark needs your financial support. In addition to the supportive therapy drugs, Mark’s current needs include Temodal and a mattress for preventing the pressure sores.

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Yesterday, I met Yuriy Bachuk and his father. They came to Kiev for the medical examination. The doctors need to determine the course of further treatment for him. Yuriy has an osteoblastic sarcoma of the left upper arm. He completed two blocks of chemotherapy at the Cancer Institute in Kiev. Then he went to Rovno for further treatment. However, he was able to complete only one block instead of two due to severe complications. Besides, Yuriy started coughing. The X-Ray showed the growth of the metastases in his lungs. In other words, the chemotherapy has been ineffective. We hope the doctors in Kiev will be able to make the required changes in the course of Yuriy’s treatment.

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Ivan Makarov has passed away. He was a very courageous boy. Ivan was fighting for his life for a year and a half. A couple of weeks ago, his condition got worse. He had several cardiac arrests. On June 29, his heart stopped for good… (more…)

Dasha Korchak had to go through a lot of things during the last two months. She was discharged from the Cancer Institute in Kiev because the doctors couldn’t help her: her body didn’t respond to the chemotherapy any more and the metastases in her lungs kept growing. Dasha’s parents thought it was the end especially when Dasha slipped into a semicomatose state. She was wandering in her mind and didn’t understand anything. These were horrible days for her parents. But five days later, Dasha recovered consciousness. Dasha is a girl with a very strong will. She wants to fight for her life and heath no matter what. She is even willing to have her leg amputated leg because she is really tired after two years of suffering and pain.

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Alexei Lavrinenko passed away today, on July 1, at 12:30 a.m. He had his first confession and communion last Saturday. Although he had very intense pain during the last three days of his life, he tried his best to be a strong boy…

Nikolai Sholomnitskiy is still at the intensive care unit. He is in coma. The doctors do everything they can to get him out of coma. Unfortunately, their efforts have been futile as yet. Nikolai’s parents are asking for help. They have to buy medications for Nikolai every day. Up to this moment, they were covering all the medical expenses themselves. But they have already spent all their savings during the last two years of Nikolai’s treatment. Besides, Nikolai’s grandfather has been hospitalized with a stroke just recently. Please, support this family both financially and with your prayers.

Last weekend, Bogdan Shevchenko went to the monastery in Pochaev together with his parents. He has been unwell for a long time. On top of that, he is depressed. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone and he doesn’t have any interest in anything. He doesn’t even care about the camera and the photographs he took, although he used to be so proud of them. Bogdan spends most of the time in bed with his face turned towards the wall. He got problems with his lungs again. One lung doesn’t function at all. It has liquid in it. We want to believe everything will be all right and that these are just the temporal difficulties. Please, remember Bogdan in your prayers.

Vladislav Valukenko passed away on June 27, 2009. He was 3 years old. Vladislav had a relapse of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Unfortunately, the clinic in Singapore refused to admit Nikolai Sholomnitskiy for treatment. The child is at home now. Next week he will have an MRI. The doctors hope MRI will help them determine the course of his further treatment. Nikolai’s mother is getting ready to go to Moscow for another consultation. Nikolai still has a swelling on his head. He complains about headache every now and then and spends most of the time in bed. When we asked him, “Do you feel any better?”, he answered, “No… not yet.”

Nadya Kremenetskaya got a combined relapse, i.e., both her bone marrow and central nervous system got affected. It’s hard to believe but the relapse occurred less than four months upon completion of the main treatment. Nadya has barely recovered after such a long stay at the hospital. She has barely got used to living at home without being surrounded by the people in white uniforms. Nadya is only 1 year and 5 months old. She spent almost half of her life at the hematology department. Just four months ago we saw Nadya and her parents off wishing them never to come back to the specialized children’s hospital in Kiev (Okhmatdet). Most likely, they won’t come back to Okhmatdet because there are no beds available there.

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On June 18, Bogdan Balashov had an MIBG done in Moscow. The results of MIBG were very discouraging, to say the least: the tumor in the left adrenal gland, the tumor in the postmediastinum at the level of the thoracic vertebra, metastases in the cranial bones, in the spinal column, in the pelvic bones, in the humerus, in the femoral bones, and in the shinbones. The course of the disease, as compared with the results on the medical examination performed on March 13, is very negative – the bone marrow got affected. It is impossible to continue the chemotherapy because it boosts the growth both of the tumor and of the metastases. We have just got a phone call from Bogdan’s mother. They are on the train going back home, for good…

Bogdan Shinder came back from Moscow yesterday. He completed 8 blocks of chemotherapy. Then he had a biopsy of the bone marrow and a computer tomography done in Kiev. The results thereof were not final. That’s why Bogdan’s mother decided to take him to Moscow for MIBG, which showed that although the tumor reduced in size, there still were the cancer cells in the bone marrow. It’s good that she took him for MIBG because the results of the bone marrow biopsy taken in Kiev (they took the biopsy from three different locations) didn’t reveal any problems.

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Last week, Mark’s parents took him to Donetsk for the consultation. The doctors decided to delay the radiotherapy so that to give Mark an opportunity to recovery first. Then Mark spent a week at home. Now he is at the intensive care unit at the hospital in Sinelnikovo. He got fever last night and was hospitalized. Mark got a drainage in the brain and a special device administering the chemotherapy directly to the tumor. Mark’s parents are asking for financial assistance. His father, Stanislav, went back to work. However, his wages cannot cover the cost of Mark’s treatment. This family also needs your prayer and emotional support. You can email them a few words of encouragement at markship@i.ua.

Dasha Gubar got a very low blood count after the radiotherapy. It’s nothing new for her – as soon as she starts the chemo- or radiotherapy, she gets problems with a low blood count. Her mother got only $125 in her wallet. However, she needs to buy not only food but also medications for Dasha, including Granocyte. Each ampule of Granocyte costs $200. She needs 3 of them by Thursday, June 25. Please, help Dasha. She has been fighting back against cancer for such a long time…

Olga Kopka urgently needs Eprex. She cannot continue treatment because she got a very low hemoglobin count after the surgery. Eprex can help her improve the hemoglobin count. It costs $950. You can reach Olga’s mother Elena at +38 050 664 0809.

Masha Zotova passed away yesterday, at about 4 p.m., at the hospital in Singapore. Masha had a malignant neuroepithelioma of the right eye. She would have celebrated her third birthday on June 25…

SOS! Daniel Pshenichniy needs $1,000 for the tickets to get back to Ukraine from the hospital in Israel, where he has almost completed the treatment. Our little hero has gone through two years of hopes and disappointments, through the hell of the bone marrow transplantation and lymphocyte “civil” war, as well as through a lot of other things, and… survived!!! Daniel survived because he is a strong boy, because he is a hero! Now it’s time for our hero to come back home. However, his parents don’t have money to buy the tickets to come back to Ukraine. We have raised $500 for the tickets but they need $1,000 more.

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Unfortunately, our worst fears have become real: today Roman’s organism ceased responding to the blood transfusions. It means that his blood count doesn’t improve even a little bit after the transfusion of the thrombocyte and erythrocyte concentrates. The doctors knew it could happen because Roman has been receiving regular blood transfusion for ten months. Although it was getting more and more difficult to improve his blood count, the doctors still hoped they would be able to maintain his condition for 2-3 months, which would give his parents time for raising the money for the bone marrow transplantation. But now it’s clear that Roman doesn’t have time to wait at all.

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Maxim Bailo is getting ready for the second surgery on his left lung. The surgery for the removal of metastasis from his left lung is scheduled for June 18. He had a surgery on the right lung done on May 26. The second surgery was delayed several times: Maxim had a very low blood count for a while, then his doctor went away for a vacation. Both Maxim and his mother Natasha got tired of waiting. Besides, all these delays cost them money. If 10 days ago she had about $250 in her wallet, now she has only $125. However, she needs at least $400-500 to pay for the surgery and to buy the medications. They also need money to get back home from Kiev.

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Please, pray for Roman Halamendik. He was hospitalized again due to a very low blood count (it’s at the critical level). Please, pray for this boy. God, why does Roman have to suffer so much?! It really hurts to realize that he has to suffer simply because his grandmother doesn’t have money (i.e., pieces of paper with numbers on them) to pay for his treatment. Why?! There is a child. There is a problem. Is it really impossible to solve it? I don’t understand. Roman needs a surgery. But he won’t get it without those “pieces of paper.” His condition and the blood count are the best evidences proving that he DOES need a surgery. It is vitally important. Otherwise…

On Monday, we got the results of the histologic analysis of the sample taken from Andrei’s removed bone. Unfortunately, the results showed 75% of the cancer cells in the bone. What does it mean? It means that the doctors will have to… amputate Andrei’s arm. The surgery is scheduled for the next week. Andrei needs financial assistance for the medications and for the surgery. His mother also needs to have at least $150 in her wallet in case of emergency.

Today we got a phone call from Elina’s mother. She asked for help. The problem is that the hospital in Kharkov cannot take her because the doctors both in Kharkov and in Kiev failed to diagnoze Elina, although it has been already two months after the surgery that he had. The baby has a tumor of the bone marrow that had spread from the lumbosacral to the thoracic spine. She had almost 10 histologic samples taken. However, the doctors disagree about the type of her tumor. That’s why the hospital in Kharkov is unclear whether they have to admit Elina to the oncology or to the neurosurgery department. As a result, Elina cannot start her treatment, which she urgently needs because her lower body is completely paralyzed.

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Dasha Gubar is in Kiev again to undergo the last stage of her long-term treatment. Dasha has already completed 7 blocks of chemotherapy and 16 blocks of radiotherapy. The doctors collected her bone marrow stem cells to use for the bone marrow transplantation. Dasha needs 12 more blocks of radiotherapy and 1 block of chemotherapy, which should be followed by the high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation. Dasha has very difficult times recovering after the chemotherapy and radiotherapy due to the low blood count. She needs such drugs as Eprex and Granocyte all the time. As of today, the hospital has Granocyte available. However, they don’t have any Eprex. Dasha needs at least 4 ampules of Eprex.

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Last week, the ambulance took Bogdan Schyokin to the National Scientific and Practical Center of Children’s Oncology and Hematology in Belarus. The Ukrainian doctors couldn’t do anything else for Bogdan because he needs an allogenic bone marrow transplant. Bogdan cannot wait. He cannot wait at all. He didn’t achieve a remission on the twenty first day of treatment. That’s why Bogdan’s parents had to take him to Belarus as soon as possible. The hospital is Belarus is the nearest hospital to Ukraine, where they perform allogenic bone marrow transplantations.

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Angelika Yakovleva is going to Moscow for the surgery, which became possible thanks to your generous donations. The neurosurgeon Dr. Kushel has scheduled the surgery for June 18. Angelika and her mother are leaving for Moscow on June 17, in the evening (train #117 Sumy – Moscow, railcar #3). Their friends will meet Angelika and her mother in Moscow. Angelika’s condition is stable right now, although she got sleep problems because her legs get very itchy at night. Her mother believes in Angelika’s full recovery.

Aleksei Ivzhenko, DOB March 19, 2007, diffusive astrocytoma. He needs Temodal and consultation in Moscow with Professor Zheludkova because his diagnosis should be confirmed. (more…)

Vitaliy is 15 years old. He lives in the village of Babinkovka, Kherson region. He passed grade 9 this year. Unfortunately, he couldn’t go to the graduation party. The school canceled the exams for Vitaliy in view of his sickness. Vitaliy is not an A student. However, he achieved great success in physical education. He also used to go to the soccer school. Vitaliy is also a good singer. His disease started from a cold and sore throat. Initially, the doctors diagnozed him with tonsillitis. However, he still had fever even after all the symptoms of the cold had disappeared.

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Bogdan is six and a half years old. In September, he was supposed to go to school. He already can read, write, and add two-digit numbers. His mother, Svetlana, is a school teacher. She started teaching Bogdan elementary English. Last spring, the boy started attending the hockey school. Although it was Bogdan’s mother who chose hockey, Bogdan enjoys it. After three months of attending the hockey school, Bogdan started complaining about the pain in his legs. It took the doctors about a month to diagnoze Bogdan. They thought he had arthritis and were going to give him a surgery. But when the results of his blood work showed a high leukocytes count, they referred Bogdan to the oncohematology department, where he was diagnozed with the malignant growth of the hematopoietic system. Now Bogdan is at the hospital. He has started the course of polychemotherapy.

Roman continues the treatment, has fun at the parties that we organize at the hospital, learns how to use the laptop, and smiles. However, his parents already know that Roman has only one hope – a hope for the miracle. Unfortunately, the results of his blood tests are discouraging: Roman still has blasts in his blood . Besides, his leukocytes count is high. But if a child has just one chance, we have to use it. That’s what Roman’s parents have decided. That’s why Roman continues the treatment. This is very sad news, especially because the boy is full of energy. He lives a full life, although his parents know that he has almost no chances to survive…

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Vika Prudius has completed one of the blocks of chemotherapy. The doctors let her go home for a week. Vika had a chance to see her mother in Skadovsk. She decided not to go to the orphanage. Instead, she spent time with one of her brother, who is also being raised at the orphanage. Vika’s life during that week was rather monotonous: she played with her brother and went out for walks. At the end of the last week, she came back to the hospital. She doesn’t look too bad: the tumor reduced in size and her eye also became smaller (it was enlarged before). Vika’s doctor says her organism started gradually responding to the treatment. Thanks God!

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 Two weeks ago we got a parcel from Germany: six boxes of syringes with a stop-flow module 0.2-0.4ml. The parcel was sent by Mrs. Doris Schlihting. We gave two boxes of these syringes to the intensive care unit right away. The rest of syringes we left at the oncohematology department in Kherson. Mrs. Schlihting started sending supplies for our hospital, such as dispensers for the infusomats, syringes for the perfusates, IV dispensers, medications, etc., three years ago. We would like to say thank you to our German friends as well as to Mr. Edward Leffler, who delivered the parcels.

Yesterday I met a young woman – Snezhana Derzhanovskaya. I had a chance to talk to her for half an hour. Snezhana really brought peace into my heart, although she is stressed out now: her adopted son Edmond is staying at the neurosurgery department after a very complicated surgery. The boy has not recovered after the surgery. Sometimes he recovers consciousness, sometimes he wanders in his mind. The tumor damaged the ophthalmic nerve. Now it’s unclear whether Edmond has lost his vision or not. Besides, the doctors could remove only a part of the tumor.

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This entry was prepared by Julia Nogovitsyna, our volunteer in charge of the weekly crafts and arts classes at the specialized children’s hospital in Kiev (Ohmatdet). “Katya Strashinskaya passed away on Friday, June 12, at 10 p.m. When I came to the hospital the next day, on Saturday, I saw Katya’s mother standing outside. She was surrounded by the group of other parents. Being unaware of what had happened, I continued smiling and joking. But as soon as I looked at Katya’s mother, I understood everything. It was not her black outfits that made me realize that Katya was not with us any more but her eyes. There was something infinitely hopeless in them. “Katya has passed away…”, she said. All I could do was hugging Katya’s mother and holding her in my arms. I am not good at finding words in such situations. I don’t think I ever will be.

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Maxim Gerasimenko has passed away today. He had epithelial hepatoblastoma, stage IV (liver cancer).

Alevtina, a mother of an 8-month-old Nikoletta Fesenko, who has been in coma for several months, says the doctors don’t want to keep them at the hospital any more. Here is what she has told us, “It all started from the very moment Nikoletta was born: the doctors infected her with staphylococcus. Of course, they deny it now. Later on she was diagnozed with sepsis and pyogenic meningocephalitis. In December last year Nikoletta was admitted to the hospital in Kiev. However, her condition got worse due to the medical malpractice: the doctors misused the antibiotics, which damaged her brain and Nikoletta fell in coma.

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Nastya Olkhovskaya has started the suppressing chemotherapy in Minsk (Belarus). The doctors both in Ukraine and in Belarus couldn’t suggest anything else other than the allogenic bone marrow transplantation. Nastya’s parents don’t have money for it. By the end of this week, Nastya and her mother Marina will come back to Ukraine because it’s expensive to stay at the hospital in Belarus. Besides, Nastya can undergo the suppressing chemotherapy in Ukraine as well. Unfortunately, her internal organs keep growing. Her liver and spleen already put pressure on the kidneys. Next Monday, Nastya’s mother wants to go to Kiev to the Ministry of Health to file the paperwork.

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Daniel Pshenichniy has spent a year in Israel undergoing treatment. He had to endure a lot of suffering during that year… But now we can say with certainty that it was not in vain! Daniel will come back home soon, very soon. The bone marrow he got from the donor produces erythrocytes, which his own bone marrow couldn’t produce. Last time he had a blood transfusion done on July 22, 2008! Although he is just a little kid, he understands and notices it. One day Daniel came up to another boy who was receiving a blood transfusion. He took that boy by the hand and told him, “Don’t be afraid. I used to receive blood transfusions all the time. But now I feel better. I can run.”

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Irene Ivanitskaya passed away on May 8, 2009. She was 14 years old. Irene had a relapse of medulloblastoma.

Last night, about 1.30 in the morning, I got a phone call from Larisa, a mother of Christina Shkuta. She called to tell me that Christina had passed away. Thanks God, she didn’t have intense pain during the last couple of days of her life. She just couldn’t sleep at night because of the respiratory problems. Today Christina’s parents had to call for an ambulance. The paramedics gave Christina a number of injections. When they left, she started wandering in her mind. She couldn’t understand where she was. Her parents and her elder brother were with her all the time. Her brother was sitting next to her, holding her hand and crying. Poor girl, she had to endure so much suffering…

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Nastya Cherepenko has already completed the eighth block of chemotherapy. Now she has to go for another MBG in Moscow. Today we got a phone call from Nastya’s father, who said that the MBG had been scheduled for June 17. He also asked for help. Nastya’s parents have $125. They need $625 more in order to pay for this expensive procedure, which cannot be performed in Ukraine.

Roman Halamendik will stay at home till June 22. He came back to Ukraine last night. Yesterday he felt very sick. Today he feels better. Roman and his grandmother are involved in an ongoing battle: Roman doesn’t want to eat anything at all. As soon as she mentions food to him, he says he is tired and has to go to bed. But at home even the walls help. Now Roman is waiting for the visitors to show his toys to. Here is the news from the hospital. We already have an invoice for the oncoming surgery. It will cost $15,000 + 15,000 Turkish liras (for the services related to the surgery and post-surgical recovery). There is also one “but”: the doctor won’t perform this surgery until Roman’s grandmother pays for the previous surgery that has already been performed. It means that we have to raise $56,066. We have time till June 22, 2009.

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Nastya Stepanova is undergoing treatment in Poltava. She started the third block of chemotherapy today. Depending on the results of the chemotherapy, they doctors will decide whether she will need a bone marrow transplant or not. However, they have already told Nastya’s mother to start raising the money for it because most likely Nastya will need it. Her mother is desperate. She doesn’t have a clue where to get the money for the bone marrow transplantation. She is asking for help. Nastya has been undergoing treatment for such a long time. Please, help her complete it. (more…)

Last week Katya Larionova completed the last block of chemotherapy. Today she went to the hospital with her mother for a routine checkup. Instead, she was urgently hospitalized. Now she has to take antibiotics and get blood transfusions. On Friday, Katya was seen by a radiologist. He said Katya would need three days of radiation for the whole body. This type of radiotherapy can be done only when the patient is in the anesthetic condition. That’s why Katya and her mother will have to spend several days at the hospital. Katya’s mother, Alina, can still pay for the chemotherapy and the radiotherapy from the money she raised before leaving for Singapore. But she doesn’t have much money left. However, Katya will need to undergo a very expensive and complicated treatment: autologous bone marrow transplantation.

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Angelina Sukhetskaya passed away on June 7, 2009.

Lesya Piskalenko passed away this morning at the intensive care unit. Her journey was very long and very difficult. We wouldn’t able to take it. That’s why God didn’t give this cross to us, weak people. He gave it to Lesya, who carried it with meekness and humility to the end. Now she is with Jesus Christ.

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For as long as we have known this girl, she has always been in pain. It looked as if pain became a part of her identity and had some power over her. Lena was enduring a severe pain. It may seem that her death means the victory of the disease over this girl, rather than the victory of her spirit. But is it true? Is everything we see with our eyes an absolute truth? Jesus said, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Lena died a death of the chosen saints. We as Christians can only dream about a death like that: she passed away immediately after a confession followed by a communion.

We have raised half of the amount Angelika needs for the surgery at Burdenko Institute in Moscow. Since we don’t know all the sponsors, we will mention here only the donations we are aware of: an anonymous sponsor from Kharkov - $670, Delroy and Heather Cowan (Cancer Kids Foundation, USA) - $200, Irene - $120, an anonymous sponsor from Kiev - $130, Gennadiy - $670. Thank you very much!!! The charity foundation Zhizn (Life) from Moscow agreed to pay the balance. On June 11, Angelika’s mother will contact the neurosurgeon (Dr. Kushel) to find out the exact date of the surgery.

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More than three years ago, Alyona Mischenko didn’t take her daughter Alina to the hospital for the next block of chemotherapy. Alina completed only a very small part of treatment. When the doctor tried to reach Alina’s mother at home, someone told her that this family moved out without letting anybody know where they moved in. Yesterday, I met Alina and her aunt at the hospital. Her mother wasn’t there, probably because of embarrassment. But the most amazing thing in this story is that Alina is alive and well. It’s the second case in Kherson.

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