Help Children with Cancer Access Treatment!

Alimzhan is 11 years old. He was bon in Kazakhstan, a second child in his family.  Like all other children he went to school, played with his friends, was always healthy, active and cheerful boy. He loves learning about cars  and is very inquisitive. 

Everything started going wrong in the summer of 2022. Alimzhan began to complain of pain in his legs, lost his appetite, and became visibly weak. When his parents took him to see the doctors, they were told that it was a muscle issue and prescribed vitamins. But Alimzhan's pains did not stop. Next, the nosebleeds started. In August 2022 he was taken by ambulance to a Children's City Hospital, where he was preliminarily diagnosed with leukemia and transferred to the specialty hospital. There Alimzhan had a bone marrow puncture and was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

The treatment was started immediately.  Alimzhan received three cycles of chemotherapy and went into remission. The treatment lasted about 7 months and in March 2023 Alimzhan was discharged home for maintenance chemotherapy. He felt happy and was doing very well at home, taking medications and going for checkups on a schedule.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of March 2024, Alimzhan started complaining of pains in the chest and abdomen. However, after visiting a hematologist and undergoing tests, there did not seem to be any issue. The doctor said that everything was fine. Meanwhile, Alimzhan started to lose appetite and appearing weaker every day.  Something felt wrong. On March 9, Alimzhan was taken by ambulance to the Children's hospital where he had a bone marrow puncture.  It was followed by the terrible news of leukemia relapse. There were a lot of tears - Alimzhan did not want to go through the ordeal of the treatment again. But the treatment needed to start and Alimzhan was transferred to the specialty hospital and received two cycles of chemotherapy, which, unfortunately, did not help. He could not get into remission. 

In despair, Alimzhan's parents sought second opinion.  They managed to find a way to Turkish doctors, who at that time came to the capital, Almaty, for a consultation. The Turkish doctor Murat Elli looked at Alimzhan's tests and said that they could take him for treatment. On May 4, the family flew to a Clinic in Istanbul for treatment.  In June Alimzhan successully achieved remission, and in August he underwent bone marrow transplantation from a donor to strengthen the remission and prevent leukemia recurrence.  He is now in recovery. 

Thanks to your support, we were able to offer our help to Alimzhan's parents and lessen the burden of medical bills.  As a foreign patient, Alimzhan' is billed the ful cost of treatment and his parents are trying very hard to raise the necessary funds.  Thank you so much for allowing us to help Alimzhan and kids like him!  Please consider signing up for monthly donations to make sure we are able to offer help year-round.

Little Sofia is now 6. When she was 1 years old, she suddenly stopped walking. After multiple evaluations, she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of aggressive childhood cancer, and referred to a Children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine. The first cycle of chemotherapy was such a shock to Sofia that she spent 10 days in ICU on a ventilator. These were terrifying days for her parents, but Sofia pulled through and responded to treatment. The response lasted only a few months, however.  Sofia was hospitalized once again and spent another year on chemotherapy and radiation treatment. The disease was taken under control and Sofia began recovery and learning to walk, run and ride a scooter like the kids her age. Unfortunately, cancer returned again, this time as metastases in her lungs.  After the surgery to remove them, Sofia’s parents decided to take their daughter abroad to a hospital in Turkey to make sure she is able to access care not available in Ukraine. There Sofia received more chemotherapy followed by a transplant of her own stem cells to strengthen her remission.  

After a year on treatment and a remission that lasted 2 years, Sofia's family received devastating news: cancer came back, but this time as a Ewing's sarcoma, a cancer of bones and soft tissues.  With the Russian aggression destabilizing Ukraine's medical care, Sofia's parents had to take Sofia back to Turkey for treatment. They need urgent support to make sure Sofia receives appropriate care.

We appreciate your care for children with cancer, particularly those from the most vulnerable countries like Ukraine.  Thanks to your donations, we will be offering support to Sofia and her parents to help them with their financial burden.  We hope you consider supporting more patients like Sofia to help us provide assistance throughout the year.