Help Children with Cancer Access Treatment!

Darina is from Shymkent, a city on the east border of Kazakhstan. In December 2021 when she was a little over 2, she began feeling progressively worse.  At first, she was treated by a pediatrician for bronchitis, but for three months there was no improvement.  Darina was hospitalized in February 2022 and diagnosed with anemia.  Unfortunately, the prescribed treatment did not help.  In April she was diagnosed with leukemia based on biopsy results - bizarrely, no additional testing or treatment was offered. Darina was discharged home after just 8 days at the hospital.  At this point, her parents were deeply disappointed in the local doctors and their ability to properly diagnose and treat their daughter.  In June 2022 they traveled to a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey where Darina was at last properly diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of agressive cancer that occurs mostly in children. 

After extensive treatment that included six cycles of chemotherapy, a surgery on her spine, 20 rounds of radiation therapy and a bone marrow transplant from a donor, Darina was ready for an evaluation to assess the treatment effect.  By that time, however, her family ran out of funds raised from their friends, family and their local community.  Your donations paid for Darina's testing and allowed her doctors make decisions regarding further treatment schedule.  Darina's family expressed their sincere gratitude for our support.  Her young parents already sold everything they had to pay for medical bills, while Darina's grandfather sold off his collection of local artists that he amassed over his whole life.

Thank you so much for your support of our project and the young cancer patients like Darina!  When the local medicine fails them, it's the resources like this project that make the difference.  We hope you continue to support our patients and help us improve access to modern cancer care.