Life-Saving Treatment for Kids in Ukraine

Dear friends,

thank you for supporting seriously ill kids from Ukraine! Your generous donations make it possible for kids to receive medicines or other medical supplies that are not available, rehabilitation after surgeries as well as psychological support.

That’s it, psychological support. Sometimes we forget that often it is not enough to give children the necessary drugs for them to get well. In the situation of a serious disease like cancer, children and their family members feel emotional tension, anxiety, despair, anger, fear of the future, the inability to manage the situation, the chaos of diverse emotions and feelings. The psychologist is a specialist who can help to cope with these feelings, to accumulate internal and external resources and to find motivation for recovery.

I would like to tell you a story from the practice of the Zaporuka team to show how it works. A 10-year-old girl who has been hospitalized at the Institute of Cancer for six months endured more than one surgery and many chemotherapy cycles. She came to the psychological session angry and tired of everything, especially the hospital and her disease. The psychologist offered her to use modeling clay and to make her disease. And while she was working they could discuss her emotions and her attitudes towards the disease.

- What is it?

- That’s a monster! It is very evil. I hate it!

- What else do you feel about it?

- I am angry with it, I haven’t called it.

- What would you like to tell it? You can tell anything, don’t hold back.

- Go to hell! I am sick and tired of you, I hate you! (shouting)

- What would you like to do with it?

- I want to tear it to pieces and throw it away to the garbage can!

The girl was tearing it to pieces and shouting for a long time. Afterward, she felt energetic and cheerful. She went to her room with a smile.

It’s a good example of just one session that can make a difference although in most cases the psychologists need to work longer to help. Thanks to your support Zaporuka team can work regularly and systematically in two pediatric departments in Kyiv and in one department in Lviv.

From July till September of this year 28 children received either necessary medicines or medical supplies. 19 children benefited from the rehabilitation service. 76 children benefited from individual psychological sessions and 32 from group sessions. 22 leisure time activities were organized for kids.

Thank you for your contributions! Thank you for your support!

Links:

• Zaporuka news on FB

Dear friends,

thank you for supporting seriously ill kids from Ukraine!

Today, I would like to tell you about Ilona. The girl got to know her diagnosis three years ago. It was an ordinary PT lesson. Ilona jumped with her classmates and suddenly felt something like an electric shock. The doctors thought that she just pulled her leg and prescribed heating it. The tumor began to grow even faster. The girl’s mom saw it and understood everything. All terrible suspicions were confirmed at the Cancer Institute in Kyiv. Three years of complex treatment: months in bed, in a sterile ward, without any opportunity to get up and go out. And then Ilona heard the word she was looking forward to – a remission.

However, it is not the end: Ilona has a temporary bone prosthesis that needs to be replaced with a new implant produced individually. Only in such a way she will be able to walk without limping, her spine will not get distorted and there will be no threat of the leg amputation. The price of this implant is about 60 000 dollars. We have raised this amount and the implant is ready to be inserted. Ilona has just returned rehabilitation camp in Germany organized by our friends and is preparing for the surgery. Then she will continue rehabilitation in Kyiv. Now she has everything she needs and her future will depend on her own willpower to do exercises, even painful ones. The disease taught Ilona to be persistent enough to overcome hardship.

From April till June of this year 30 children like Ilona received either necessary medicines or medical supplies or special bone prostheses. 27 children benefited from the rehabilitation service. 73 children benefited from individual psychological sessions and 29 from group sessions. 27 leisure time activities were organized for kids.

You can help these kids more by participating in Little by Little campaign. Just make a donation up to $50 starting at 09:00:00 ET on Monday, August 12 and it will be matched at 60%.

Thank you for your contributions! Thank you for your support!

Links:

• Zaporuka news on Facebook