NEWS

November, 2004

THE CRIMEAN ADDRESS OF OUR SITE HAS CHANGED.

Since the Oncohematology Department of the Crimean Republican Children's Clinical Hospital has started creating its own Web site, we have come to a joint decision: the address http://hematolog.simfi.net no longer acts as such. This page redirects the reader to two different sites: those of the Overcoming Mission and the Oncohematology Department of the Crimean Children's Hospital.

Now the Crimean mirror of our site can be found by the address http://overcoming.simfi.net. The site of the Oncohematology Department exists at childoncocrimea.simfi.net.

The Moscow mirror of our site remains at its former address: http://hematolog.vinchi.ru.

October 29, 2004. Letter and help from the Crimean Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Today we received a letter on the letterhead of Metropolitan Lazarus (Shvets), the Ruling Archbishop of the Simferopol and Crimean Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).

"I heartily thank you for the information about the charity concert of July 29 in favor of Valya Polishchuk, a 15-year-old girl with an oncological disease.

My heart rejoices at the thought that this child's destiny touched the hearts of the Crimeans and the necessary sum for her treatment was collected.

At the great sacred place of our land, near the relics of St. Luka Voino-Yasenetski, I will pray for the health and wholesome healing of gravely ill adolescent girl Valentina, so that the great heavenly protector and powerful intercessor before God St. Luka would cure all her diseases through his miraculous help.

God bless you.

+ LAZARUS, Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea"

The same day, the Crimean diocese also transferred 500 hryvnias for the ill children to our account.

October 26, 2004. NEW HRYVNIA ACCOUNT OF OUR MISSION.

Since our Mission was re-registered, our hryvnia account has changed! Please remember this if you want to transfer money to us in the Ukrainian currency.

HELP NEEDED! Igor Derun.

Igor Derun is 7 years old. His diagnosis is acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Anatoli, Igor's father, says, "My son is a merry and sociable boy. I don't know how it happened that he fell ill with blood cancer. It was such a shock for us. It is still a shock... We would not believe that such a terrible disease could befall our son, could try to kill him... but the tests have been confirmed. It is terrible. When children fall ill, it is always terrible. And it is also awful when there is a chance to help the child but too little money for the treatment.

But I can't explain this to my little son. He wants to be happy and carefree like his friends. To see and hear this world himself. He likes walking in the woods. And when we went fishing together for the first time, he was simply mad with joy! He told all his acquaintances how he caught his first fish all by himself. Probably he will remember it long...

I want to hope that Igor will yet have a happy childhood, just as all children should. It is depressing to look at my son's sad face when he understands that he may not do many things that his friends may. He may not get suntanned, swim in the sea, run, jump... He must bear the difficult treatment, keep to a diet... He has long been at hospital with his mother (my wife's name is Tatiana) without leaving it. My elder son Alesha and I visit them every day. Alesha graduated from school this year and wanted to go to the Dnepropetrovsk Institute of Railroad Transport. But all plans for this year had to be postponed. The main thing is to cure Igor!

Actually, all limitations that he has to bear are not too terrible. What is really terrible is that Igor's life may be very short. We don't want to believe that this may happen. So far the treatment is successful, and Igor has reached remission. The amount of blast cells in his blood decreased from 97% to 5-15% as early as by the 7th day of his therapy.

But I have a favor to ask of you. If you can help us in buying the expensive medicines, you will save our son and make us the happiest people in the world.

Please don't turn away from us!"

HELP NEEDED! Vyacheslav Afonin.

Slava (Vyacheslav) Afonin is from Lisichansk, a town in the Lugansk region.

He fell ill in September 2002, when internal destruction of the left radius was revealed. And the diagnosis became known in December: Ewing's sarcoma, 2nd degree.

The boy went through six courses of chemotherapy from December 2002 to June 2003. After the affected part of the bone was surgically removed, he had six more courses. The last course had to be interrupted in April 2004 due to exacerbation of Hepatitis B, which appeated during the therapy.

And then, in September 2004, two lung tumors were observed (one of them is distinctly seen in the photograph). An examination showed a relapse of Ewing's sarcoma.

Slava will have to go through two courses of intense chemotherapy, then surgical removal of the tumors and, finally, marrow transplantation. Since no compatible donor is available, Slava's own bone marrow will be used after processing.

Now Vyacheslav is going through the first preparatory course of chemotherapy. The treatment takes place in Kiev, at the Institute of Oncology, Ukrainian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Preliminary calculations show that the two courses of chemotherapy and surgical removal of the tumors will require 3500 to 4000 hryvnias (650-750 USD), and marrow transplantation will require 1500 USD more. That is, the total sum will be 2150-2250 USD.

We must say that this sum is immeasurably (at least ten times!) smaller than the one usually necessary even for autotransplantation. However, Slava's mother Natasha says that the doctors told her about this approximate sum. She also tells that the institute, where she is together with her son, is well sponsored from Europe, most medicines are available, and the parents have to bear only about 10% of the actual expenses.

But nevertheless... Slava's treatment has been going on for two years, and his family has no more money to buy everything necessary for the operations. His relatives' means are completely exhausted. They need help to save their son!

HELP NEEDED! Polina Sobolevskaya.

Polina Sobolevskaya is three years old. She is at the Kherson hospital, and her diagnosis is embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of pelvis minor with lesion of the genitals.

Polina and her parents Elena and Eduard live in Kakhovka, a town in the Kherson region. The girl complained of stomach-ache on February 17, 2004. Two days later, the doctors decided it was acute appendicitis, started an operation, and... saw a huge tumor. After the biopsy, Polina had a bleeding. The doctors began to prepare the parents for the worst, being sure that the girl would not survive till morning. But she continued to fight. She was taken to the regional resuscitation ward on February 20. A repeated 4.5-hour-long operation was held on February 24. Polina's uterus, cervix, ovaries and adnexa were removed. The blood vessels of the left buttock were ligated, but the blood circulation of the right leg was preserved. The final diagnosis became known: rhabdomyosarcoma of the genital organs...

HELP NEEDED! Nastya Leshchenko.

Nastya (Anastasia) Leshchenko is 15 years old. She is a patient of the Kherson hospital. Her diagnosis is acute lymphocytic leukemia, T-cell, neuroleukemia.

Before her disease, Nastya lived in the town of Borislav, Kherson region.

When the girl felt unwell in May, her parents at first decided that it was the flu. However, her condition became worse and worse. An ambulance car took Nastya to the town hospital, and the next day she was transferred to Kherson.

Nastya and her mother did not bring anything. They came to the hospital in those very dressing gowns in which they left their home. Their family is of very "moderate means" as is often said now. In simpler words, they are just poor.

The very first block of chemotherapy affected the girl's kidney and liver, caused gastric problems and rapid deterioration of eyesight...

Anastasia's parents Natalia and Alexander ask everybody: Dear people, help us cure our daughter, our beloved Nastya! We will be grateful to you for any help. The Bible says, "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again" (Proverbs 19:17)."

To cope with the complications, Nastya needs disposable sets for platelet phoresis by the Sova apparatus, peripheral catheters, spinal needles, last-generation antibiotics, colony-stimulating factors (Neupogen, Granocyte), and antiemetics.

October 26, 2004. Good news about Anya Kharchenko.

This is what Irina K. (Minsk) wrote about the condition of Anya Kharchenko:

WBC 4.3, RBC 3.2, hemoglobin 119. As to the platelet count, there were different opinions: 102 automatically counted, 70 counted by man (lab assistant). In any case, the platelets are not Anya's own but infused. However, Anya "holds" them much better, that is, doesn't lose them so fast.

The formation of granulocytes has begun [Info: Granulocytes are leukocytes that contain granules in the cytoplasm. They are formed in the bone marrow. According to the staining of their granules by dyes, they are classified into basophils, neutrophils, and eosinophils. They protect the organism from bacteria and toxins.], and pigments appear.

From now on, Anya will have no lavages and no droppers. She will also do without two antibiotics. She had spinal puncture with Methatrexate (i.e., "chemotherapy"). A trial sternal puncture was canceled; the doctor said, "No need to torture the child; it is already clear that the bone marrow is working as is should." This means that the exploratory puncture will be made on the 90th or 100th day.

Immunoglobulin will be administered tomorrow. If all goes well, our girl will be transferred to the "ordinary" hospital department.

Subjectively, Anya has some problems. She complains of headaches and severe nausea. There was even vomiting yesterday. But the doctors see it all philosophically. After her diagnosis and merciless treatment, such feelings are like nose itching for a healthy person... just thinking about it makes you feel even more pity for the child.

October 25, 2004. Two boys are no longer with us...

Nikita Frolochkin died yesterday. It was quite unexpected for everybody. Several days after the third, last preparatory block of polychemotherapy, Nikita's organism just refused to function. Resuscitation specialists couldn't do anything.

And the same day we learned that little Ilya Sarafanov died in Kiev.

October 22, 2004. Report at the Crimean symposium.

The regular Crimean symposium "Man and Christian View of the World" has turned ten years old. This year, its topic was the preservation of moral and physical health in the world of a changing culture. The Overcoming Mission prepared a lecture for the Section of Science and Medicine, entitled "Christ in a hospital ward" It was delivered by Eugene Novitsky, the coordinator of the Mission. The co-speakers also present at the symposium were Svetlana Polishchuk and Lemara Frolochkina.

Look here for the photographs.

October 15, 2004. List of medicines for Polina Sobolevskaya.

A letter from Olesya Artemova (Kherson):

"I visited Polina today. Poor kid. It is her fourth day under a dropper. When I came in, she was frightened that I would do something else to her. Her mother says that the results of the tests are very bad and they had to come to the hospital a week earlier. And also the medicines affected the mucous membrane of the intestines. She has eaten nothing during the last week or so. She cannot sleep well either. She had just fallen asleep when I came to her yesterday."

See Polina's page for the list of necessary medicines.

October 11, 2004. Anya Kharchenko's birthday!

Now, at the 41st day after the transplantation, Anya Kharchenko turned eleven. Today she has WBC 3.5, hemoglobin 120, platelets 40.

For a detailed account of Anya's treatment (in Russian), see the corresponding topic of the Andrei Kuraev Web Forum.

October 5, 2004. Help for two children from Kherson was received.

Simlutaneously with infusion pumps, the Kherson Oncohematology Department received help for two children that are under treatment here: 1500 hryvnias (approx. 300 USD) for Polina Sobolevskaya from Vadim (Simferopol) and 300 hryvnias (approx. 60 USD) for Nastya Leshchenko from an anonymous contributor.

October 5, 2004. THE KHERSON ONCOHEMATOLOGY DEPARTMENT RECEIVED SIX INFUSION PUMPS.

A letter from the Dotik Yangola volunteer group, city of Kherson:

I want to share our joy with you.

Six infusion pumps were received at the Oncological Department of our children's hospital on Tuesday, October 5. A representative of the Artur-K company brought them from the city of Nikolaev. The infusions were handed at the playroom of the department. Everybody listened attentively and nodded. And when everything ended, the doctors and nurses ran to look at the strange boxes with buttons.

Everything started this February, when a guest from the Overcoming Mission (Simferopol) came to our city. They had a conversation with Vera Red'kina, our head of department, and concluded that finding sponsors for buying the infusion pumps may be possible. Vera Gavrilovna confessed that she did not expect any results when she was writing a letter with a plea to buy the pumps.

But... the Save a Russian Child Foundation in Amsterdam collected the money and bought the infusion pumps for Kherson!

All our words of GRATITUDE to Sergei Moiseev, to the Crimean Overcoming Mission, and to everybody else who took part in this action. Our doctors, parents, and volunteers thank you!

Photo report: the infusion pumps are received!

October 2 to 4, 2004. THE FIRST UKRAINIAN MEETING OF SOCIETIES AND GROUPS HELPING CHILDREN WITH OR AFTER ONCOLOGICAL DISEASES WAS HELD IN KIEV.

The meeting was initiated by the My Poruch (We Are Near) volunteer group from Kiev and our Overcoming Mission of parents from Simferopol.

Information on this meeting and its other materials are available at our Web site.

The main result of the meeting is that its participants announced the creation of the Ukrainian Open Association of Organizations, Groups, and Persons Working with Children Suffering from Oncological Diseases. The My Poruch group from Kiev assumed an obligation to form an initiative group that will work on the official registration of this association.

October 1, 2004. Yulia Shedko received help.

An anonymous contributor bought Ursofalk and one pen syringe with Intron A for Yulia Shedko.

The Save a Russian Child mission also transferred 292 EUR for buying Intron A to Yulia's mother.

September 24, 2004. Help for Valya Polishchuk was received.

Valya is finishing her hospital treatment: this is her last course of therapy in Obninsk. 200 USD for buying the necessary medicines was transferred to her mother from Switzerland, and a Muscovite bought two packs of Polyoxydonium for Valya.

September 21, 2004. New information on treatment in Israel.

Responding to the request of a family where a child needs marrow transplantation, Prof. Shimon Slavin sent us additional information on the conditions of performing the operation in his clinic. In particular, it turned out that the former price, 77,000 USD, referred to marrow transplantation from a closely related compatible donor. If another donor must be selected, the cost of the treatment increases to 127,000 USD.

September 19, 2004. A meeting of the ICCCPO (International Confederation) was held in Oslo, Norway.

The 36th Congress of the International Society of Pediatric Onkology (SIOP) was held in Oslo, capital of Norway, on September 16 to 19, 2004. Just as usual, members of the ICCCPO also met at the same time. This year, it was a doubly festive occasion, because the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organizations celebrated its 10th anniversary.

During the last three meeting, including this one, the Executive Committee of the Confederation refers to the experience of our organization. This year, our information, provided on the request of the Executive Committee, was selected for presentation at the joint (SIOP and ICCCPO) psychosocial session "Listening to the Dying Children."

See here for the materials and photographs of the meeting.

September 13, 2004. Engraftment of the donor marrow has begun!

The head of the department hosting Anya Kharchenko informed us that white blood cells appeared in her blood (0.4). This means that the transplanted bone marrow has started to work!

Here is one of the e-mail messages for Anya:

Anya, please recover quickly. I am Zhenya, I'll soon turn seven. I live in the Moscow district of Zhulebino. I wish that you never more fall so gravely ill. I pray for you. I wish you to study well at school when you feel all right. I am a good pupil. I have just started studying at school. I have got a cat, its name is Racket. I wish you to find many friends at school. I like cello music, and I am learning to play the cello myself. My cat is very funny. I invite you to visit us. I think you will recover soon. I think you will like it here.
Zhenya.

For a detailed account of Anya's treatment (in Russian), see the corresponding topic of the Andrei Kuraev Web forum.

September 10, 2004. Ambisome for Anya Kharchenko.

A week after marrow transplantation, a fungal infection started to threaten Anya Kharchenko. Liposomal Amphotericine B (commercial name Ambisome) was urgently necessary.

And again, the help came in time thanks to visitors of the Andrei Kuraev Web forum. First one ampoule was bought in Moscow, than 29 more in Zurich. After buying the medicine in Switzerland, Father Oleg, a priest, instantly flew to Moscow with it. There Irina, who came from Minsk by car, met his flight in order to transport the ampoules to Anya's hospital...

For a detailed account of Anya's treatment (in Russian), see the corresponding topic at the Andrei Kuraev Web forum.

September 6, 2004. Help for the children was received.

D. from Moscow transferred money for the treatment of
= Ilya Sarafanov: 300 USD;
= Veronika Ostrovskaya: 500 USD;
= Valya Polishchuk: 400 USD.

V., also from Moscow, bought Wobenzym worth approx. 100 USD for Valya Polishchuk.

August 31, 2004. ANYA KHARCHENKO HAD DONOR MARROW TRANSPLANTATION.

Anya Kharchenko had her operation today! The doctors in Minsk started the transplantation at approximately 3:30 p.m. Moscow time. Yesterday Anya summoned the strength the smile and even to speak to her mother by phone from behind the window of her isolated sterile ward. The doctor-in-charge says that Anya's condition is adequate to the treatment.

Almost three weeks of the so-called crisis period are now to come.

For a detailed account of Anya's treatment (in Russian), see the corresponding topic at the Andrei Kuraev Web forum.

August 23, 2004. Help for Veronika Ostrovskaya was received.

Tatiana Kopan transferred 250 EUR to the account of the Save a Russian Child Mission to buy Intron for Veronika.

Lyudmila Leshchuk from Kiev sent 50 hryvnias (approx. 50 USD) to buy "routine" medicines for Veronika.

August 21, 2004. Help for Tamara Kotova was received.

V.R., our constant sponsor from Simferopol, transferred 3000 hryvnias (approx. 550 USD) to Kherson for the treatment of Tamara Kotova.

You may transfer the money for Tamara's treatment to the accounts of our Mission, but better to the personal account of the girl's stepfather (Ukrainian hryvnias only!), which is given on her page.

August 2004. Blood is needed for Lera Ulitskaya!

As we learned from the Kiev mailing list of Sergei Shteinikov, the My Poruch volunteer group in Kiev is searching for blood donors for Lera (Valeria) Ulitskaya:

"Lera Ulitskaya, aged 12, urgently needs blood, group A Rh+. The diagnosis is myeloid sarcoma. This is her sixteenth chemotherapy, the results of the tests are depressing, and she needs platelet concentrate donors as soon as possible. The phone number of the department in Kiev is 259-0185. Please mail this message to any addresses you think appropriate."

Just as was planned and as Lera's parents asked, Holoxan worth 1002 hryvnias (approx. 200 USD) was bought for part of the money collected by the Mission.

August 15, 2004. FUNDS FOR ANYA KHARCHENKO'S OPERATION HAVE BEEN RAISED!

Members of the Kuraev forum alone raised 13,000 USD for Anya Kharchenko. 2000 EUR was received from the Amsterdam-based Save a Russian Child Mission. There were also charity actions in France and Germany. As a result, although this had seemed improbable, the ENTIRE REQUIRED SUM IS NOW AVAILABLE.

Anya and her mother had confession yesterday and received communion today at the St. Elizabeth Convent in Minsk.

For a detailed account of Anya's treatment (in Russian), see the corresponding topic of the Andrei Kuraev Web forum.

August 14, 2004. EASTERN EUROPEAN REGIONAL MEETING OF PARENT ORGANIZATIONS.

The 1st International Meeting of Representatives of Eastern European Parent Organizations took place on August 14, 2004, in St. Petersburg. It was held under the patronage of the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organisations (ICCCPO). ROO "Children and Parents Against Cancer" and its executive director Katerina Kiseleva received the participants of the meeting in their office.

See here for our report of the meeting and for the photographs.

August 7, 2004. Help for Yulia Shedko was received.

Vadim, who always helps us, again bought the necessary medicines for Yulia Shedko.

August 6, 2004. Many thanks to the Leontyev family!

We are grateful to the Leontyev family from Austria, who reimbursed us for some overhead (travel and polygraphic) expenses of our Mission and bought a scanner for us. Nella Semenovna and Leonid Antonovich, thank you very much!

August 1, 2004. We thank everybody who helped in organizing and conducting the Crimean Nights concerts!

We are especially grateful to

- baron Eduard von Falz-Fein, who took the concerts under his patronage and partially paid for their participants' journey to the Crimea;

- Lazarus, Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea (Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate) and Father Vladimir Karpets, Archpriest of Sevastopol Diocese, for their blessing and active help in preparing the concerts;

- Father Andrei Belyat, Senior Priest of the Yalta Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary, for the permission to hold the concerts in the church and for active help in their preparation;

- the Domino polygraphic center, its director Alexei Alexandrovich and designer Daniil, who issued, free of charge, all the polygraphic production necessary for the concert: playbills, advertizing leaflets, colored booklets, invitation cards.

Thank you, friends!

August 1, 2004. "CRIMEAN NIGHTS" CHARITY CONCERTS IN FAVOR OF VALYA POLISHCHUK WERE HELD IN SEVASTOPOL AND YALTA.

It is the first time that we managed to arrange such a wide-scale action. Performers from Switzerland participated in "Crimean Nights" classical music concerts. They were Maria Batova (soprano), who initiated and organized the concert, ans also Irina Zeitz (organ) and Andreas Schmidt (counter-tenor). On July 27 and 31, the concerts were held in Yalta, in the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary. On July 29, there was a concert in Sevastopol, at the Officers Club of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Other participants of the Sevastopol concert were the Madrigal Chamber Choir (Officers Club of the Russian Black Sea Fleet) and the Sevastopol City Chamber Orchestra. The art director of both musical groups is Vladimir Kim, Honored Art Worker of Ukraine, winner of the Prize of the Crimean Autonomous Republic.

The culmination of the Sevastopol concert was Gloria, a cantata by Antonio Vivaldi, which was performed by all its participants.

The Crimean Nights concerts were held under the patronage of Baron Eduard von Falz-Fein, a widely known philanthropist and patron of arts, an offspring of a Russian noble family, now living in Lichtenstein.

The Sevastopol concert was blessed by Lazarus, Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea, and received active support from the Sevastopol Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

All charity donations collected during the concerts amounted to 7732 hryvnias, which is approximately equivalent to $1464. They were handed to Svetlana, the mother of Valya Polishchuk, by Maria Batova and the Sevastopol Archpriest Vladimir Karpets. This money was used to pay for Valya's treatment at the Medical Radiological Center of the town of Obninsk (Russian Federation).

See here for the photographs of the Crimean Nights concerts.

July 29, 2004. Help for the children was received.

An anonymous sponsor from Sevastopol provided 300 hryvnias (approx. 55 USD) for the treatment of Valya Polishchuk and 100 hryvnias (approx. 20 USD) to buy medicines for Veronika Ostrovskaya.

30 hryvnias from V.V. Chernyshev (town of Slavutich) and 100 hryvnias from Eugene Melnichenko (Kiev) were received at the account of the Overcoming Mission.

July 27, 2004. Help for Vera Gelyuk was received.

Natalia Slichuk from Kiev, together with her friends and colleagues, collected some money for Vera Geluyk. In addition to Cogitum, of which we have already informed you, other medicines (Puri-Netol, Noofen, Licised, Magne B6) were bought, and money for magnetic resonance tomography (100 USD) was paid. An anonymous contributor also transferred 700 USD to Vera's account and handed a birthday present for the girl.

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