Nikita
Frolochkin
14 years old
Acute lymphocytic leukemia, L1
(high-risk group)
Died on October 25, 2004
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Nikita 14 years old Acute lymphocytic leukemia, L1 Died on October 25, 2004 |
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How are you? Now I stay at hospital and read books. Stories about the wonderful boy Harry Potter are especially interesting. I saw them for the first time here, at the Hematology Department. Frankly speaking, earlier I wasn't a great fan of reading. But now I have lots of time for this. My diagnosis is pretty grave: it is leukemia. And I'll have to spend a long time here. So I'll read as much as I can. Now I understand that it is much better than TV. Recently the doctors told me and my mom that I need marrow transplantation. This operation is very serious, the doctors are making the necessary preparations, and I am preparing myself, too. But I don't know if they will do it. To perform it, I must go to Russia or Israel, and it is very expensive there. My mother and father work, but they don't earn much and cannot pay such a sum. So now they are addressing everybody who can help us in any way. And I am writing this letter to publish it in the Internet. Maybe you'll respond to my plea, and then, with your and God's help,
I will stay alive and get healthy again. Every night, when falling asleep,
I pray to God for help. I want to live so much. There is a chance,
and, as the doctors say, not a slight one. I won't lose hope,
I'll fight till the final victory. |
It might seem that acute lymphocytic leukemia is not the most severe among oncological blood diseases of children. But Nikita belonged to the high-risk group. Firstly, because of his age: the younger the child, the easier his or her recovery, and vice versa... Secondly, Nikita did not reach remission by the 33rd, control day of treatment. According to contemporary therapeutic protocols, marrow transplantation is recommended in this situation as soon as the first remission is reached. The boy's preparations for the operation were successful. The boy received three special chemotherapy blocks. But the problem was seriously complicated by the fact that Nikita had no closely related marrow donor: the typing performed in St. Petersburg showed that his brother was incompatible with him as to HLA genes. It meant that performing this operation in Ukraine was impossible. And treatment abroad is very expensive. Nevertheless, the Frolochkins didn't want to give up. Nikita's parents got in contact with Prof. Shimon Slavin from an Israel clinic, and he confirmed the information sent for our Mission: the cost of treatment, with the search for a donor included, was to be 127 thousand dollars. For the Crimea, this sum seems just fantastic. However, nothing is impossible when so many people come to help. But... Nobody knew that there was no more time. Several days after the third and last preparatory block of chemotherapy, Nikita's organism just refused to function. Resuscitation specialists could do nothing.  |