Olga died on October 4, 2011

Another photo: Olga's daughters

Hello!
My name is Olga Voitenko. I am 35 years old and I have two amazing daughters: 3-year-old Lena and 6-year-old Natasha. In 2008 I was diagnosed with a terrifying disease, which sounded like a sentence: chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, II variant, monosomy of chromosome 7. I live in Kemerovo and undergo treatment at Hematology unit. From March to December 2009, I underwent seven chemotherapy courses with Dacogen, but did not achieve remission. A consultation at R. Gorbacheva Institute of Pediatric Hematology and Transplantology has shown that I need allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. My brother, unfortunately, did not match as a donor.
The donor search at the International registry requires a large amount of money - 15,000 euros, and delivery of transplant costs additional 2,500 euros. This much money would take us a very long time to save, because only my husband works and I am disabled.
I really want to raise my children by myself. I know that there are good people and I ask them to help me raise the money. I am asking not only for my own sake, but also for my children who need their mother so much.

Olga

Bill for the donor search in Germany
Epicrisis: page 1, page 2

Update as of January 13, 2010. Olga is undergoing a planned course of maintenance therapy locally. She feels rather well. Unfortunately, donor search was not started due to lack of money.

Update as of February 20, 2010. A donor was found for Olga, and transplantation was scheduled for mid April – there are no vacancies at the Bone Marrow Transplantation Clinic until that time. Before end of March we have to pay the registry for the donor search and cell harvesting, and that is 13,000 euros (AdVita paid 2,000 euros from donations to all patients to start the search), plus 2,500 euros for the transplant delivery have to be raised yet. The situation is aggravated by the fact that there is no Dacogen at hospital to help suppress blast growth, and Olga's condition has gotten worse. We are waiting for the medical record from the doctor to find out how much Dacogen we need to buy so that the situation can be stabilized until the transplantation.

Update as of March 26, 2010. Olga came to St. Petersburg and she is now undergoing all the necessary tests prior to transplantation. The debt to the bone marrow donor registry is not paid off yet, and money for delivery of transplant is not raised. Transplantation is scheduled for April 8th.

Update as of April 16, 2010. Fortunately, Olga was able to receive financial aid from municipal administration and she transferred the necessary amount to the registry. We paid for delivery of transplant using donations sent to all patients. Transplantation took place on April 8th, as planned, and Olya is now recovering. She does not feel very well yet.

Update as of May 19, 2010. Olya already recovered after transplantation and was discharged for outpatient monitoring. However, several days ago she was hospitalized again due to heightened leukocytosis and low hemoglobin. An infection is suspected and blood samples were sent for testing. Olga is receiving antibiotics and antivirals. She feels better now.

Update as of July 3, 2010. Olya fully recovered after transplantation and is in remission. Her blood test results are normal and she is stable in hematological terms. Unfortunately, after a viral infection, Olya has serious neurologic issues: she cannot walk well and has problems with speech. Olya will need to undergo long-term rehabilitation at home. Olya and her husband are already at home. We are sincerely grateful to Olya's supporter who donated a wheelchair and crutches for her.

Update as of July 14, 2010. Olya's trip was good. Based on test results, she is doing well.

Update as of September 6, 2010. Based on planned tests, Olya's blood counts are normal. She feels well and had improved neurologically: speech and movement recovered fully, and she now only has some memory problems.

Update as of March 31, 2011 Olya came in for planned tests. She feels well.

Update as of April 5, 2011. Olya underwent planned examination. All is well and the test results are good. She feels well.

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