Sergei died on May 29, 2010

Hello!
My name is Anton. My brother Sergei and I are fraternal twins. We are 23 and live in a town of Kropotkin in Kuban region. Four years ago, Sergei was diagnosed with lymphogranulomatosis in V-Bb stage. Our parents urgently took him to Rostov where he received eight chemotherapy courses during six months of therapy.
After that his doctors referred him to Obninsk where Sergei had therapy for another 1.5 years. He had chemotherapy and radiation, but the disease retreated for only a short time.
We had to go to Hematology center of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow. During 2007, Sergei underwent five courses of high-dosage chemotherapy and he stoically endured all these unpleasant procedures. He achieved a partial remission, after which he was advised to go to Professor Afanasiev in St. Petersburg. Boris Vladimirovich carefully analyzed Sergei's treatment and offered us to look for the donor and perform allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. I had HLA typing and matched as a donor. We are now both at Bone Marrow Transplantation unit of Pavlov State Medical University. We are being prepared for the operation and are hoping all will go well. We know that Sergei will have a long-term recovery and rehabilitation after the operation.
It probably goes without saying that our parents suffered emotionally all these years. We also spent a lot of money on treatment, transfers, medication, apartment rent and other expenses. Our parents are now renting an apartment in St. Petersburg. Even though the transplantation itself will be paid out of our region's budget, the medical expenses are enormous. Every day we need significant amount of money. Our parents take turns coming to St. Petersburg from Krasnodar. Sergei needs constant care and additional medications, not covered by insurance, such as Recormon, an injection of which costs 16,000 rubles (Sergei needs four of them a month), and many others.
Neither I, nor my parents ever asked for help publicly. There are so many people who need help and they all wait for it.

Epicrisis
Medical conclusion

Update as of March 26, 2008. Sergei's father is asking for help with paying apartment rent. They need to pay 21,000 rubles for apartment near Zvezdnaya subway station by March 30th. Sergei's father will return home soon, and Sergei's mom, Svetlana Mikhailovna, will be taking care of him

Update as of April 4, 2008. Sergei is now in cytopenia, but the cell growth is on the rise. His leukocyte count is 0.2. He feels relatively well and no longer suffers from bone aches.

Update as of April 18, 2008. Serezha had almost recovered hematologically. His leukocytes are at 3.4, thrombocytes – 38 and hemoglobin – 88. He started eating well. His family still needs help with paying apartment rent and buying medications.

Update as of May 5, 2008. Sergei was discharged for outpatient monitoring. He feels relatively well.

Update as of July 10, 2008. Sergei's disease worsened again and he was hospitalized. He will need to undergo additional testing not just at bone marrow transplantation clinic, but also at other city clinics.
In addition, Sergei will need chemotherapy. He needs money to cover the cost of medications, testing, apartment rent and travel expenses, since Serezha's mom will leave and his dad will come in her place.

Update as of August 3, 2008. Sergei underwent a course of anti-relapse chemotherapy and is now recovering. He feels relatively well.

Update as of September 30, 2008. Based on the results of scheduled testing of Sergei's lungs, all the lesions in his lymph nodes are gone, but a tumor in abdomen remains. He will continue chemotherapy.

Update as of January 29, 2009. Sergei is undergoing planned chemotherapy courses. He is planned to receive a second donor's lymphocyte infusion. He is in a stable condition.

Update as of July 23, 2009. Based on CT scan results, Serezha's malignant process is stable, and he is continuing supporting chemotherapy with Endoxan, Vepeside and Natulan. Unfortunately, he was discovered to have aspergillosis, so he needs Vfend. A package that costs 25,000 rubles lasts Serezha a week.

Update as of September 8, 2009. Sergei continues supporting chemotherapy and therapy with Vfend (400 mg daily). He is in a stable condition, and the doctors are considering allowing him to go home.

Update as of October 2, 2009. Sergei feels rather well and was allowed to go home for a month. He is continuing supporting chemotherapy. Upon his return to the hospital, he is planned to undergo control CT scan, and the results will allow determining whether he needs to continue Vfend therapy. For now, he is taking 400 mg of Vfend a day.

Update as of October 20, 2009. Serezha suffers from severe intoxication from chemotherapy. He started having diarrhea and vomiting. Ambulance took him to Municipal hospital No.26, to the Pulmonology unit. Serezha's blood protein levels dropped drastically, and he needs Albumin infusions.
Sergei's father

Update as of November 30, 2009. Sergei was transferred to Hematology unit of City hospital No.15. His condition had stabilized. Sergei's family still needs help with buying medications and paying apartment rent.

Update as of January 25, 2010. Sergei is undergoing treatment at hospital No.31 due to an infection. He is in leucopenia. CT scan results show progression of his disease. As soon as his leukocyte counts rise, he will continue treatment under the protocol that was prescribed by his doctors (Natulan, Endoxan and Doxorubicin).

Update as of February 15, 2010. Sergei underwent CT scan that showed enlargement of retroperitoneal lymph nodes and presence of fluid in his lungs. Sergei has fever and will probably need new cycle of chemotherapy.
Serezha's father

Update as of May 28, 2010. Serezha is in City hospital No. 31 in a critical condition. Due to disease progression, he has strong pain syndrome and is on narcotic painkillers.

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