Help Children with Cancer Access Treatment!

As we are entering 2018, it is important to look back to last year to review how much we accomplished together.  In the last 12 months your generosity allowed us to support 14 families of children with cancer and help pay for transportation, lodging and medical expenses.  The families traveled from their home countries of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Moldova to access treatment in Israel, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Switzerland. For most of them, it will be a long and challenging road and any support is important and appreciated.

Most recently, your donations went to help Alikhan who is 18 months old. He suffers from retinoblastoma of his right eye. Alikhan is the third and youngest child in his family. He was diagnosed in April 2017, and the family was shocked and greatly saddened by this news. Alikhan began treatment in Center of pediatric surgery in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he received 2 courses of chemotherapy. To his parents regret, it didn't help, as the size of the tumor did not change, while Alikhan's condition worsened. The next step would have been a removal of Alikhan's eye. The family began researching doctors and looking for different treatments to try to save Alikhan's eye. In the fall, the parents decided to take him to Ophtalmique clinic Jules Gonin in Lausanne, Switzerland. The family prepaid most of the treatment for 2017, but they still need to raise funds for the therapy that will be continuing in 2018.

Thanks again for helping young patients like Alikhan and we hope we can count on your continuing support!   Our best wishes for the New Year! 

Fall is a season when we celebrate many brave people whose lives have been touched by cancer - from September's Childhood Cancer Awareness to October's pink ribbons of breast cancer survivors.  In November, Bone Marrow Awareness month, we recognize and support transplant physicians, researchers, bone marrow donors and recipients.  

In many countries of the former Soviet Union, bone marrow transplants are still not available for blood cancer patients, even 50 years after this procedure was first performed.    For this reason, children from Ukraine, for example, often have to travel abroad for transplantation of stem cells from donors. 

Recently, parents of David, who is 3 years old, asked for our help.  A year ago, David started having fevers and his blood test revealed low count of platelets. He had to get blood transfusions to increase his platelets - again and again. After observation for nearly a year, David was diagnosed with myelodisplastic syndrome, a blood disorder that can only be cured by transplantation of stem cells from a donor. As doctors in his native Ukraine are not experienced in transplantations of stem cells to children, David needed to travel abroad for treatment. His family researched hospitals around the world and settled on Turkey, but they need help with raising funds for the procedure and potentially long-term immunosuppressive therapy.

Please help us support David's family and others like them.  We appreciate your kindness and care.

Our best wishes for the holiday season!