Physical Health United States Project #6066

Help Cancer Patients Find Bone Marrow Donors!

by Advita Fund USA

Project Report | Dec 5, 2018
The End is Near

By Marina Ouano | Project Leader

Oleg and his wife

The year is coming to an end, and what a year it has been! But no matter how uncertain and volatile the things are in the wider world, our work remains constant and focused on the same goals as in the past: helping cancer patients access modern treatments. To this end, we have supported 7 patients with blood cancers and spend over $43,000 to allow them to afford bone marrow donor searches. These are people of all ages, of different professions and from various regions of Russia. The only thing that unites them is their diagnosis - something that happened to them randomly, out of nowhere. It's not only an emotional shock, but a financial disaster, as so many costs of treatment the patients are expected to pay on their own - including searches for a foreign bone marrow donor for those who need them.

Oleg is the patient we supported most recently. He was born in Kazakhstan, but after the Soviet Union collapsed, he moved his family to St. Petersburg. Oleg loves to travel and he had worked as a driver his whole career. In 2017 he was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood disorder that can transfom into leukemia. Only bone marrow transplant from a donor can cure Oleg. Unfortunately, no matching donors were found within Russia and the search was extended to the donor registries abroad where there are several potential matches. Oleg's family already made an initial payment of 6,000 euros to the registry after selling his daughter's apartment. However, they could not afford to pay off the balance of the registry bill. Your help allowed us to transfer 6,900 euros to the registry and help Oleg with this financial burden.

There are many other patients like Oleg: people of modest means, breadwinners, parents of young children. Very rarely there are patients who can afford cancer treatment on their own. Most patients will need our help at some point in their treatment journey. We hope you can consider making a gift to these people as part of your holiday giving. One of the best gifts would be a recurring donation, since patients need help throughout the year, not just during holidays. Now is the best time to sign up, as until December 31st Global Giving will add an additional 100% match on the initial donation (up to $200 per donor) as long as it remains active for at least four consecutive payments!

Thank you for supporting us this year! We wish you a joyful holiday season and a happy New Year!

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Sep 10, 2018
Will you help Yuri defeat lymphoma?

By Marina Ouano | Project Leader

Yuri

Yuri is 25 years old. It seemed that his life was on the right track. Yuri graduated from high school and enrolled into a mining college. He led a healthy lifestyle, was active in sports and enjoyed traveling with his parents. He even made plans to marry his girlfriend Ksenia.

However, since 2007 Yuri had enlarged lymph nodes on his neck. Initially, the doctors were not concerned. In 2010 they began growing rapidly, and Yuri underwent evaluation again. This time, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, cancer of lymphatic system. Yuri was shocked by the news, but with his girlfriend's support he began treatment and achieved remission. For several years, all was well: Yuri returned to school and his usual active lifestyle.

Unfortunately, in 2014 he began showing signs of disease recurrence, and the treatment had to be restarted. Bone marrow transplant was needed to help Yuri sustain remission. In 2015 Yuri was evaluated, but treatment in his local clinic was not successful, and in 2016 he was referred to St. Petersburg for therapy with newer drugs that were recently approved for lymphoma. After many months on treatment, Yuri's disease is now in remission and he is finally ready for bone marrow transplant. Since he does not have a matching donor in Russia, the doctors initiated a search abroad. Yuri's family resources are exhausted after years of treatment, and they need our help.

If you would like to help Yuri and patients like him, support our project during Bonus day that starts on September 12th (7 am Moscow time) and ends on September 13th (4 pm Moscow time). All donations up to $1,500 will get a bonus from GlobalGiving, proportionally to the total amount raised. Or sign up for automatic monthly donations, and receive 100% bonus after 4 monthly payments.

Thank you so much for your support!

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Jun 12, 2018
Your donations continue changing lives!

By Marina Ouano | Project Leader

Rinat

We would like to thank everyone who supported us during the Bonus Day in March, our recurring donors, and everyone who had contributed since. Because of your kindness, we were able to help two more patients with paying the bills from the donor registry in Germany. Both of them have already received their donors' stem cells and are now in recovery period.

One of the patients is Rinat from Surgut, an oil city in Siberia. Rinat is the oldest of two brothers. His father passed away, and his mom is retired. Rinat graduated from college with a specialty in oil production, but could not find a job in the industry. He ended up working in a warehouse. In 2013 he started feeling unwell and blacked out a few times. When he had a severe tonsillitis in early 2014, he had a blood test that revealed blood cancer. After seven blocks of chemotherapy, Rinat achieved remission. Unfortunately, a year ago he relapsed with a more complicated type of leukemia than the first time. Only bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor would give Rinat a chance to beat leukemia - and thanks to your support he was able to use it!

Another patient, Irina, comes from northern Russia. She was born in Murmansk region and later moved to Karelia. She worked as an elementary school teacher, and then as an emergency call line operator. A year ago, Irina herself began needing help. She suddenly grew fatigued and developed bruises over her body. After going to a checkup, Irina was diagnosed with MDS, a pre-leukemic blood disorder. Irina had to relocate to St. Petersburg, as the doctors in her city had no experience with the disease. She was recommended therapy with a newly approved drug, as well as bone marrow transplant, the only chance for complete cure. There were potential bone marrow donors for Irina, but all of them were in foreign registries. With the help of her son, she was able to afford initial deposit, but the rest of the bill was out of reach. Fortunately, your support enabled Irina to mobilize a donor and undergo transplantation!

Thanks again for your care for patients like Rinat and Irina. There are many other patients like them who cannot afford donor searches on their own. We will make sure to continue bringing their stories to you, so you know exactly who was helped and where your donation made a difference in the world.

All the best from our team and hope you have a great summer!

With love,

Irina

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