Vyacheslav Danilyuk, 15 years old, Burkitt lymphoma
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Vyacheslav was admitted to the hospital with acute abdominal pain on December 28, 2009. At first, he was diagnosed with appendicitis. But during the surgery, the doctors found a hematoma that was located in the proximity of the small pelvis. Nobody knew about it. As a result, the doctors removed 70cm of his small bowel and took a histological sample from it. The results of the histological analysis showed Burkitt lymphoma. It is a fast growing malignant tumor. Now Vyacheslav is at the local cancer hospital in Kiev. He has already completed two blocks of chemotherapy. At the moment, he is undergoing supportive therapy. He needs three more blocks of chemotherapy followed by the radiotherapy. His mother is asking for help.
Our daughter, Milana, is already one year old. When she was 10 months old, she was diagnosed with retinoblastoma of both eyes (cancer of the retina). It is very scary to realize that your baby is sick with cancer. Based on the experience of other children with the same diagnosis, we know that the treatment will last for years. In the best case, the result will be the removal of both eyes. Unfortunately, in Ukraine more than 50% of children do not survive the chemotherapy, although retinoblastoma can be treated very successfully in Germany (Essen). The specialists there use unique and individualized treatment plans for each child. Our daughter needs a consultation in Germany. It costs about 3,000 EURO. We will not be able to raise this amount on our own, especially during such a short period of time (the consultation is scheduled for March 29). 
Last November Margarita fell on her way home from school. At first, we didn’t pay much attention to it. We just treated the wound and put a bandage around it. But the pain wouldn’t go away. Two weeks later we took Margarita to the hospital in Dnepropetrovsk, where she was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer). Margarita needs a very long and expensive treatment. In Kiev, the specialists prescribed her 20 blocks of chemotherapy followed by the surgery. Margarita is undergoing treatment at two hospitals at the same time – in Dnepropetrovsk and in Kiev. It involves transportation expenses in addition to the very expensive chemotherapy and supportive therapy drugs. Margarita also needs blood donors after every chemotherapy block. Donor blood is not free in Ukraine. Margarita’s family is financially exhausted and is asking for help. 
Yevgeniy is only 6 years old. It took the doctors two months to diagnoze him with Burkitt lymphoma (a tumor in the intestines with 60% recovery rate if treated). Now Yevgeniy is at the intensive chemotherapy department in Kiev. His mother is with him all the time. The medications are very expensive. The family has already spent all their savings and ask for your help. 
Our story started four years ago, when Constantine was only 9 months old. He was diagnosed with retinoblastoma of both eyes. The doctors said the tumor in the left eye was too big and the eye had to be removed. After one year of treatment they did remove his left eye. However, I personally believe they could have saved his eye, even though Constantine wouldn’t be able to see with it. Constantine had 35 blocks of chemotherapy, almost 30 sessions of anesthesia, two blocks of radiotherapy, gamma therapy and beta therapy, when the applicator stays inserted in the eye for three days. After the beta therapy his vision dropped significantly. If before the therapy he had almost 100% vision in his right eye, now it’s only 40%. Now the doctors don’t know what to do. However, we can’t leave the things the way they are because the tumor will continue growing. At the moment, saving his only eye is at stake. 
Nastya is a very good-looking, curious, kind, active, and sociable girl. She enjoys reading
Last year Stas started complaining about pain in his leg. But
We live in Kirovograd. It’s a nice town and we love it very much. Everything was all right in our family. My husband and me worked, our children went to school. Our daughter, Anna, became a cook and our son, Vlad, was in grade 8. Vlad is a very nice and kind boy. He likes basketball, soccer, and karate. But last summer he started complaining about pain in his hip. We had a look at it but didn’t find anything wrong with it. In October last year we noticed that Vlad got a lump on his hip. We took him to the local hospital, where he had an X-ray done. The X-ray showed a tumor. Vlad was referred to the National Cancer Institute in Kiev, where he was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma of the soft tissues of the hip of the second stage. This is a very rare type of cancer in children and the doctors said it’s the worse type of cancer. Vlad was prescribed the chemotherapy but the chemotherapy drugs are so expensive. 
Dmitriy fell sick in October 2004, when he was almost 5 years old. He was diagnozed with leukemia. In the course of its treatment, Dmitriy got infected with hepatitis C. In spite of all the difficulties, Dmitriy completed the treatment and survived. But on September 8, 2009, he got a relapse of leukemia. The only treatment for him is an allogenic bone marrow transplantation. It can be done only abroad. Allogenic bone marrow transplantations are not performed in Ukraine. The cost of this treatment is $140,000 – 200,000. Dmitriy’s parents don’t have a lot of time to raise this amount of money. At the moment, Dmitriy is undergoing the fifth block of chemotherapy in Kharkov. As soon as he completes this block, he will need a bone marrow transplant. We have no doubts that Dmitriy will win a victory over leukemia. But he will need your help. 
Victor was admitted to the hospital in Kiev two weeks ago. He has very good parents. Although they are not very young, they are full of energy – as soon as their son was diagnozed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, they started looking for the money, medications, and blood donors. Victor fell sick very suddenly. His body got covered with small bruises within a couple of days and got enlarged lymph nodes. He was referred to the specialized children’s hospital in Kiev almost immediately. Victor didn’t have any symptoms of leukemia before.
Vladimir is a new patient at the surgery department in Lvov. He was admitted to the hospital at the end of July. His problems started from acute urine retention. At first, Vladimir’s parents took him to the urologist at the local hospital. Then the boy was referred to Kiev, where he had a computer tomography done. Vladimir was diagnozed with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Now he is undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. He will need three blocks of chemotherapy followed by tomography and other examinations. If the tumor doesn’t respond to treatment, it will have to be removed. Vladimir is a very smart, gifted, and sociable boy. His favorite school subjects are mathematics, physical and career education. He also likes puzzles and legos. But above all he likes cartoons. Vladimir is probably the only child who was able to find something positive in his staying at the hospital – he is allowed to watch as many cartoons as he wants here. Vladimir lives in the village of Nepsukhiv with his parents and two elder sisters – Ivanka (11 years old) and Irene (16 years old). He still has a very long way to go in his treatment: chemotherapy, surgery, examination, expensive medications and so on. He needs your help. 
Vlada is a very cheerful girl. She laughs a lot with a very contagious laughter. Although Vlada is only 5 years old, she talks as if she is much older. One day I asked her what she wants to do when she grows up. She said, “I want to become a dentist, a laboratory technician, and a massage therapist.” Then she told me in every detail what each of these specialists does. For example, the laboratory technician takes a blood sample, then studies it under the microscope to see if the chemotherapy has killed all the bad cells. You have to admit that not every 5-year-old child will be able to give a “job description” of the laboratory technician. When I asked Vlada whether she chose those jobs because she liked them, she said, “No, I have to.”
Igor lives in the village of Balovnoye in Nikolayev region with his mother. In February, Igor’s mother noticed a lot of small bruises on his legs. Igor also complained about stomach pain and was restless. It’s not the first case of cancer in this family: Igor’s grandmother died of cancer in 2008. His mother got really worried about Igor’s condition and took him to the hospital, where he was diagnozed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the first acute period. Now Igor is undergoing the chemotherapy. He has a lot of complications, especially problems with pancreas and heart. Igor’s mother is BEGGING for help. She borrowed a lot of money for Igor’s treatment. She not only has to repay the debts, she also needs money for the current treatment of her son. She doesn’t have any family support because she is a single mother. 
Nastya was born on September 10, 2008 in Kolomiya, Ivano-Frankovsk region. When we brought her home from the maternity clinic, we noticed numerous blue spots around her right nipple. Touching those spots induced pain. The doctors at the children’s hospital in Kolomiya told us not to worry and said the spots would disappear within a year. However, Nastya was restless all the time because of those spots, which gradually turned into a huge pigmented area. I asked the doctors to refer Nastya to Kiev, where we have been staying since April. Nastya completed the hormonal therapy. She had numerous blood plasma transfusions. Although the doctors succeeded in preventing the growth of the tumor, Nastya’s condition didn’t improve. Besides, the computer tomography has shown that the tumor has its roots in the muscular tissue. It’s looks like it’s a dead-end: the hormonal therapy is ineffective and the surgery may result in unforeseen complications due to a very large size of the hemangioma.
I live in a village with my elderly mother and four children. I am divorced. My ex-husband is in jail now. I am the only breadwinner in our family. Not so long ago my youngest child, Vlada, fell sick. She got an abdominal pain. I took her to the hospital, where she was diagnozed with cancer. Vlada was referred to the regional hospital. I hoped it was a mistake and she didn’t have cancer. Unfortunately, the doctors confirmed the diagnosis. Vlada was referred to the hospital in Kiev. However, her condition got worse and the doctors in Kiev refused to hospitalize her. They were honest with us and said Vlada had no chances because the tumor in her abdominal cavity was growing very quickly and was spreading all over her body. But then one of the doctors still decided to take a chance and to give Vlada the chemotherapy treatment. She said the chemotherapy would either kill Vlada or will prevent the further growth of the tumor.
Valeria had a right kidney removed on January 29, 2009. She needs financial assistance with buying the chemotherapy drugs. Altogether, the course of chemotherapy will cost more than $7,000. Valeria’s family is asking for help. They have already published information about Valeria in local newspapers in Poltava. They also put the fliers out asking for help. However, they could raise only $35 through this campaign, which is far from being enough. Valeria is staying at the hospital in Poltava. 
Yana lives in Uzhgorod. She is a very playful girl. You would never be able to say that she has cancer. That’s how cheerful she is. Half a year ago Yana caught a cold. The doctors at the local hospital said she had problems with her left lung. Besides, they said Yana’s heartbeat had shifted to the right. The X-ray showed a lung of the white color. The doctors at the pulmonology department in Mukachevo drained the liquid from her lung. However, the X-ray still showed a while spot in the middle of the lung. The doctors suggested several diagnoses: tuberculosis, cancer, and abscess. The analysis of the liquid drained from her lung showed atypical cells. Finally, Yana was referred to the hospital in Kiev, where the doctors found a malignant soft tissue tumor in the proximity of the left lung. 
Oleg is a tough cookie. He is very asocial. He doesn’t want to communicate with anyone. His grandmother, who is staying at the hospital with Oleg, invited me to meet her grandson. When I entered his room, a saw a boy sitting on his bed. Oleg has only one leg. “Hi. I came to see you. My name is Anna. What’s your name?” I ask. Oleg keeps silent and looks at me frowningly. I decide to joke, “I guess you are deaf-mute. But I don’t know the sign language. So, what do we have to do now?” He still keeps silent. “Do you know Yogi? You are sitting like a real yogi. Maybe, you are double jointed?” Silence. Oleg’s grandmother feels uncomfortable and tries to make Oleg talk. But he refuses to communicate with me. He is still sitting with a mask of indifference on his face. “Would you like me to buy you a treat? Just tell me what you want. I will buy anything for you.” Silence.
Vlad is a skinny boy looking younger than his age. He is a “know-nothing” boy. Why? Because every time I ask him something he always says, “I don’t know.” “What do you want to do when you grow up?” - “I don’t know.” “How are you?” - “I don’t know.” “What is your dream?” - “I don’t know.” Vlad’s parents are divorced. His mother has been raising three kids on her own. Vlad has two siblings: 16-year-old Valentina and 6-year-old Dima. Their mother had to leave them at home in order to stay with Vlad at the hospital. His father doesn’t help Vlad at all. His mother used to work at a butter factory but now she on an unpaid leave. 
Angelika is a very smart girl. When she still had her hair, she looked much older and more serious than the majority of the children of her age. Angelika has a tumor in the spinal bone of the lumbar area - anaplastic ependymoma. She had a surgery done on January 19 in Kiev, at the Neurosurgery Institute. Her surgeons were Prof. Orlov and Prof. Protsenko. As soon as she recovered a little bit after the surgery, she was transferred to Kharkov for radiotherapy and chemotherapy (Vincristine). Unfortunately, Angelika is unable to walk – her lower body got paralized after the surgery. 
Julia Nesterenko is two years old. She was born on January 7, 2007. Julia was diagnozed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She urgently needs money for treatment. If you can help her, please do. This family will be grateful for any help. 
Misha was born on May 16, 2007. His birth brought joy into his parents’ lives. But very soon grief came to this family: Misha’s father got a spinal injury at the construction site and got paralized. Irene had to leave both her son and her husband at home in order to get a job. Misha was only two months old. He was helplessly lying down in bed next to his father, who was trying to take care of Misha as much as he could. Irene would leave water, food, bottles, and diapers on a nightstand and run to work. There is a saying that disasters come treading on each other’s heels. 
My son, Ivan Bondurovskiy, was born on September 25, 2007. He was born a healthy child and didn’t suffer from any diseases. He was properly developing. Ivan also liked playing. But in February 2008, he changed a lot – he lost his appetite, didn’t want to drink water, didn’t want to play. His behavior in general got changed. I noticed a lump on his forehead. He also got pus running out of his ears. We took him to the local hospital. Then he was referred to the regional hospital in Vinnitsa with running ears (otopyosis). At first, he was admitted to the otorhinolaryngology department, where the doctors were giving him treatment for otitis. Then they transferred Ivan to the cancer department for examination and surgery. 
Vika Prudius is from a dysfunctional family. Her mother has eight more children, the eldest ones being 30 plus. The girl lives in an orphanage in Skadovsk. The nurse and the principal of the orphanage took care of Vika. They accompanied Vika together with her mother to the Cancer Institute in Kiev for consultation and blood tests. Vika doesn’t look like a child raised in a dysfunctional family. At least, it was my first impression when I met her. She is a very innocent, open-minded, and smiling girl, who is always ready to chat with adults. She doesn’t feel shy telling about her needs and accepts the tokens of attention with joy. Maybe the only thing that makes her different from the other children is that she is not fussy about food. She also has a keen appetite. Furthermore, Vika doesn’t have the basic things, including the items of personal hygiene. 
The story of this boy from Mariupol is very sad. He was not only diagnozed with sarcoma but also had a number very unsuccessful surgeries done, when the doctors tries to implant an endoprosthesis. It led to a lot of pain, staphylococcus infection, and sufferings that have been lasting for the last several months. We believe God will not leave Vlad all by himself and eventually he will break this vicious circle. Read his story, please, and you won’t be able to forget it. Please, help this boy. Probably, he has been carrying his cross for you and me, too. Vlad doesn’t have a lot of people in his life – just his mother, grandmother, aunts, and friends at the Cancer Institute. His father left the family 15 years ago. 
My son Yuriy was born on January 23, 2007. He fell sick when he was only 3 months old. At first, he had dysbacteriosis. Then for almost a year he had been suffering from bronchitis. Yuriy has three sisters: 4 years old, 3 years old, and 6 months old. His oldest sister Marina had a very complicated surgery on her heart. But it was only a beginning of our misfortunes. On May 12, my husband got an employment injury. He broke his tenth and eleventh vertebrae, damaged his pelvis, ruptured the nerves and the joints on his legs, and got clogs in his lungs and liver. Now he is disabled. He lives with his mother, who became his primary caregiver. I stayed at home with our children. Then Yuriy fell sick again. 
Ivan came to Kiev for the surgery and treatment from Novaya Kakhovka. His story is similar to the stories of so many other children, who used to undergo treatment at the Neurosurgery Institute. He didn’t have any health problems until October 2008, when he started vomited and tilting his head to the left. He also got weak and kept losing his balance. Ivan’s parents took him to the doctors who misdiagnozed Ivan with a twisted neck and intestinal worms. 
Natasha and Roman Zharko have three wonderful sons, who are 6 years old, 3 years old, and 4 months old. Andrei is almost 6 years old. He is the oldest child. Usually, the elder children have difficult lives: they get punished for the misbehavior of the younger siblings, they have to grow up faster, to babysit their younger brothers and sisters. But Andrei had to face much more difficult challenges: he fell sick with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in September 2006. 
Anna is the only child in the family of Irene and Bogdan Raikhel. For the first time, she was admitted to the children’s oncohematology department in February 2007 (two years ago). She was diagnozed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She spent nine months at the hospital being treated under the protocol ALL-BFM-2000. When she was discharged from the hospital in November 2007, we thought it was all over. Yes, she still had to undergo the supporting therapy and to do regular blood tests, but it was nothing compared with what she had already gone through. Unfortunately, she didn’t have an opportunity to spend a lot of time at home. As early as in winter 2008, she started complaining about headache and pain in her back and legs. The doctors didn’t even want to think it was a relapse. 
For the first time, Andrei was hospitalized in 2006, when he was 8 years old. The doctors from the specialized children’s hospital in Kiev confirmed the diagnosis of myeloblastosis. Andrei spent 8 months at the hospital together with his mother Olga. During this period of time, he got hepatitis B and C. He has 10 blocks of radiotherapy with total dose 18Gr. Then, for the next 11 months, Andrei had to come to Kiev every month to get Cytozar. 
In October 2008, Liza got problems with her intestines: she got constipated. We took her to the hospital but the doctors were not able to diagnoze her. Some time later, she got problems with her legs. Liza had an ultrasound examination done, which showed retroperitoneum tumor. She was referred to the neurosurgery clinic in Donetsk, where Liza had a magnetic resonance imaging done. It showed the retroperitoneum tumor that had already spread on her bone marrow and possibly on her right kidney. 
Dasha Shubelka was diagnozed with the retroperitoneum neuroblastoma in April 2007. Her parents did everything they could to save Dasha’s life. She had two surgeries done. She took numerous blocks of chemotherapy and endured a lot of pain and suffering. Although Dasha had severe complications during the postsurgical chemotherapy, she survived. Eventually, she was discharged from the hospital and was supposed to come back just for the follow-up examinations. On January 19, the girl was hospitalized to the oncohematological department in Nikolaev again…
Until the age of 7, Irene was a healthy, cheerful, and happy child bringing job to her parents’ lives. In September 2006, she went to school but as early as in February 2007, she fell sick with chickenpox and flue. Since then, she has been sick all the time – otitis, bronchitis, sinus infection, etc. In May 2007, Irene was diagnozed with bronchitis and was hospitalized to the contagious isolation ward of the specialized children’s cancer hospital in Kiev.
My son is 4 years old. He has been diagnozed with lymphosarcoma (malignant lymphoma). The doctors had to remove the tumor and to do the bowel resection. Vlad will have to undergo very complex and expensive treatment. That’s why I am asking for your help. Without it we won’t be able to save my son. Vlad is all I have in this life. I am a single mother. Thank you very much in advance to those people who will respond to my call for help. Svetlana.
We’ve got a request for help from the mother of this nice boy – Stanislav. He has a very rare form of chronic myeloblastosis (the so-called “adult” form). Stanislav has been seen by the oncohematologist since 2006. He is undergoing the supporting therapy. Stanislav’s mother says it may be possible for her son to get admitted to the specialized children’s cancer hospital in Kiev. However, they don’t admit everyone and they also have a very long waiting list there. So, for now he has to stay at the oncohematology department in Nikolaev. Now about the problem. Stanislav ran short of the vital medication he needs to take all the time – Hydrea.
Dasha is 6 years old. Last autumn she was supposed to go to school. Instead, she had to go to the hospital… As early as in October 2007, Dasha started complaining about pain in her right leg. We took her to the orthopedist. After the prescribed treatment her condition improved for a while. In January, her leg got swollen. Dasha was hospitalized to the orthopedic department and had to go through the gravity traction. Her condition improved again, for a little while. 
Irene was hospitalized to the oncohematology department in July 2008. As soon as I found out that she was an orphan, I went to see her. Irene turned our to be a shy 15-year-old girl. Although she was very sociable, she didn’t ask me for anything. It is very weird for a child who is being raised at the orphanage. Irene was diagnozed with osteoblastic sarcoma. I don’t know how she was able to get over it but I know that she was crying a lot before she had to leave for Kiev for her first block of chemotherapy. When she came to Kiev again for the second block, she was very pale, skinny, and weak. After the chemotherapy was completed, she started getting better little by little. 
My name is Vitaliy. I have a brother who is seriously sick. His name is Roman. He is 12 years old. The doctors diagnozed him with aplastic anemia (the damaged bone marrow cells constantly “kill” the erythrocytes in his blood). Roman is in critical condition. He urgently needs bone marrow transplant. Roman doesn’t lose heart, no matter what. He is a very cheerful boy. But you also need to keep in mind that neither doctors, nor his parents tell him all the truth about his disease. Roman is still alive because he gets blood transfusion every 2-3 days. 
Daniel is 15 years old. He started complaining about pain in his side in April 2008. Based on the results of the ultrasound examination, Daniel was diagnozed with hepatoblastoma (liver cancer). He needs urgent surgery. We got a refusal from the doctors in Kiev, in Germany, and in Italy. The only hospital that agreed to take Daniel was in Moscow, at the Research Institute of the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology. Professor Sharoev agreed to give Daniel a surgery. The surgery will be very complicated. They will have to remove the right hepatic lobe completely and the left hepatic lobe partially. The surgery will also be very expensive. We have only one month to raise $12,000. This money will help us save Daniel’s life. We will be thankful for any help. 
When the parents found out they were going to have another baby, their daughter 
Alyona was born on March 15, 2006. She was developing as a healthy baby. When in September she got fever, the doctors didn’t suspect anything serious and prescribed her medications for the cold. One month later Alyona’s elder brother noticed some unusual glowing in her eyes. We took our daughter to the eye specialist who diagnozed her with retinoblastoma (malignant neuroepithelioma) of both eyes. Alyona started chemotherapy and completed two and a half block. But in May 2007 the doctors told us about the new tumors in both eyes. Usually, they give a one-month break to a child between two blocks of chemotherapy. But because of the new growing tumors Alyona could rest only for two weeks between the blocks.
Yuriy was born on April 13, 2004. He was the second child in our family. Now I am pregnant with the third child. The only disease he had in his early childhood was bronchitis. When Yuriy was three years old, someone hit him on the head with a swing. He got brain concussion, which was accompanied by pain and vomiting. The doctors diagnozed him with tumor of the fourth ventricle of cerebrum and obstructive internal hydrocephaly. Yuriy spent two months at the Institute of Neurosurgery in Kiev, where he had a surgery done. Unfortunately, the doctors were not able to remove the tumor completely. One segment of the tumor was left in the brainstem. Then we went to Vinnitsa for chemotherapy. 
Roman was born on August 13, 2000. He was a healthy boy, although he was born with very low birth weight – only 2.2 kg. At first, things were all right. Every now and then, Roman would catch colds, like any other child. But when he fell sick in 2005, we noticed that he started squinting. We took him to the doctor and had X-rays done, which didn’t show anything abnormal. When Roman went to school, he started squinting even more because of the load on his eyes.