Hello!
We would like to ask you all for your help. It is our mother, Svetlana
Lukicheva, who needs help.
Our family is from Kyrgyztan, which is where our mother was diagnosed with
acute myeloblastic leukemia in August 2009. Unfortunately this disease cannot
be treated properly in Kyrgyztan, so we transferred our mother to a city
hospital in St. Petersburg. Mother's treatment here has to be paid for.
In August 2009 mother was administered the first chemotherapy course. The
recovery process was difficult (mother got into intensive care twice and had
2 surgeries) but thanks to the doctors' hard work and support she got better,
and since October 2009 she's in remission. In January 2010 mother is to have
another chemotherapy course. The interval between the courses is longer than
it has to be due to the long time it took her to recover.
At present mother is in hospital, her condition is good, and the doctors are
planning to begin the second chemotherapy course at the beginning of next week.
When the first course was over we had to make a choice: to come back home or stay
in St. Petersburg. We are not able to pay for the second course on our own. We
do not know how much it will cost (depends on mother's condition), but the
first one cost us 780,000 roubles. Also, mother needs an antifungal drug called
Vfend which costs 20,300 roubles per week.
Yet upon consideration we decided to continue with mother's treatment and look
for ways to pay for it.
We have already sold out apartment in Kyrgyztan, but that sum only lasted for
the first 3 months. Mother is 55, and the doctors believe she has a chance to
fully recover, but to make this happen the treatment must be continued.
We all have jobs and try our best to earn the money, but unfortunately our
family's income is not enough, that's why we have to ask for help.
Life gave our mother a chance to recover, but this chance is now in our hands
and also in the hands of the kind people who will help us pay for the second
treatment course. We so hate the idea of wasting the doctors' and our mother's
efforts to overcome the disease due to lack of money.
Thank you for your understanding.
Respectfully,
Katya and Dima,
children of Svetlana Lukicheva
Update as of January 25, 2010.
Svetlana started a cycle of chemotherapy.
She still needs Vfend. Svetlana's children pay the full
cost of her treatment and rent an apartment to stay
in St. Petersburg.
Update as of February 3, 2010.
Svetlana completed the second cycle of chemotherapy.
She is now recovering. Svetlana is at the hospital where
she takes Vfend. After a cycle of chemotherapy, Svetlana's
blood counts plummeted. Her son has to purchase
platelet mass for transfusions.
Update as of February 18, 2010.
Our mom is now undergoing therapy to help her recover
after second chemotherapy cycle. During this time, she
will need special hormones and transfusions of platelets
and erythrocytes. We have to buy the blood components
ourselves.
Katya and Dima
Update as of March 1, 2010.
Our mom is now at home and we bring her to the hospital from
time to time for the tests. Her blood counts are recovering
slowly and after another puncture we plan to return to
Bishkek and continue treatment there.
Before she leaves, mom will need to undergo testing at
Mycology Center, where she will receive recommendations
regarding further therapy with Vfend. She is now continuing
to take it. We now need help with paying the
last bill
for her treatment (151,965 rubles) which needs to be
paid off within 2 weeks.
We are trying to find the money, but for now we are
completely unable to pay the bill.
Katya and Dima
Update as of April 27, 2010.
My mom feels well. She already finished the third chemotherapy
cycle at a hospital in Bishkek. She was hospitalized a week after
returning from St. Petersburg. During each cycle my mom has
to continue taking Vfend.
There is no Mycology center in Bishkek, but before her return,
my mom was at Mycology Center in St. Petersburg where she underwent
complete examination and we will now stay in touch with the doctors
in St. Petersburg and send them the CT images so that they can control
the dynamic of aspergillosis.
We were able to buy chemotherapy drugs in Bishkek. My mom was enrolled
into a new grant for patients with blood diseases and they doctors
are waiting for the confirmation. If it is confirmed, my mom will
receive chemotherapy in Bishkek using medications purchased on
the grant money. Unfortunately, Vfend is not included on the
list of medications.
We are doing well. Mom is recovering well after chemotherapy.
Once again we would like to thank our sponsor for his help with
Vfend (2 boxes) and money. My mom is very grateful!
Katya, Svetlana's daughter
Update as of July 1, 2010.
We are doing well and things seem to be calm in Bishkek.
My mother just finished another cycle of chemotherapy and she
is now at home. She feels rather well and we were even able to
go to the countryside two weeks ago.
Katya, Svetlana's daughter
Update as of August 16, 2010.
Couple of days ago, my mom completed the 5th chemotherapy cycle in Bishkek.
She is in a good condition. I am currently in St. Petersburg. I brought all
of my mom's test results and images of her lungs for a consultation regarding
further treatment.
Dima, Svetlana's son
Update as of September 22, 2010.
Our mom feels well and she is working on her favorite hobby: flower
compositions made of beads. Dima showed her images to the doctors in
St. Petersburg and they said that they do not see further development
of aspergillosis, but the lesions are not decreasing either, so they
recommended to continue Vfend therapy after chemotherapy, as it will
prevent disease progression at the time when immune system is weakened.
In regards to primary diagnosis, we are now talking to the doctors
in St. Petersburg regarding further treatment. Our mom will need to
change her treatment protocol, and the doctors offered her to return
to St. Petersburg for one more cycle of aggressive therapy, but our
mom cannot make the trip at this time, so we asked about alternatives.
We now pay all the treatment expenses. In the future, we may need
help with buying medications in Moscow, but for now we do not know
what treatment our mom will have and whether medications will
be available in Bishkek.
We are very thankful to everyone who is helping us! Our mom is enormously
grateful to everyone.
Katya and Dima
Update as of October 4, 2010.
Unfortunately, the last puncture showed that our mom had a relapse of
her primary disease and she urgently needs high-dose chemotherapy.
The doctors from St. Petersburg recommended a certain protocol, and
the doctors in Bishkek were planning the same treatment. So most
likely our mom will start that protocol.
All the medications for the chemotherapy are available in Bishkek,
and we are checking what drugs are needed to support our mom after
chemotherapy. Some of them may not be available locally, so we would
need to order them in advance.
Our mom is not feeling down and wants very much to get well soon.
All of us are hoping that she will tolerate this chemotherapy well also.
Katya and Dima
Update as of October 25, 2010.
Our mom is doing well. 5-day chemotherapy was started last week.
She is now recovering and feeling well. For now, all the medications
are available here. She mostly needs antibiotics, immunomodulators
and blood components.
Katya and Dima
Update as of January 27, 2011.
The New Year's Eve Svetlana celebrated at home with her children.
She felt well during the holidays, but after January 7th she vecame fatigued
and got headaches. Svetlana was admitted to the hospital and turned out her
blood counts were very low. We are very grateful to everyone for helping our mom.
We are especially grateful to Yulia whose help was invaluable. Thank you veyr much!
We are deeply grateful to everyone for their support.
Katya and Dima
