Just as many mothers, I believed and hoped that I would be able to overcome anything and cope with any ordeals for my children's sake. But I could not foresee the terrible thing that would happen to Ilya, my younger son.

Everything started from small bruises over his body. Then there were large hematomas. A huge bruise after running into a doorpost, bruises on the bridge of his nose or under his eyes after falling on the ground... First I thought that he was having fights with somebody and not willing to tell me because of boyish principles. And I told him to stop going to the hiking club. Then I suspected my elder son of hitting his brother too strong when playing. But when Ilya developed a rash and fever, I was really worried.

A day later, we were urgently taken to the Pevrozavodsk Republican Hospital. The doctors suspected acute leukemia. First I was in despair, tried to understand how it could happen, but then I started fighting for my son's life. And all the time I prayed to God that this diagnosis might yet prove wrong. Yes, it was wrong. But our real diagnosis was no less serious: aplastic anemia, extra grave form.

We hoped to receive help at the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital in Moscow. Ilya went through the first course of antithymocyte globulin therapy comparatively easily, and the days of waiting began. The most difficult time is that of aplasia, when the bone marrow cannot produce blood cells. Various infections develop and further aggravate the bleedings, which are frequent and hard to bear even by themselves. For three days out of forty, Ilya had a renal bleeding; there were also nose bleedings from morning till night. But the worst thing is that he has got fungal lesions. Cancidas, a modern antifungal drug, is vitally important for him, because other drugs are not efficient enough. Every hour is important, because tumor necrosis and sepsis have already started to develop.

It is painful to see how Ilya, so merry and active before the disease, is simply vanishing in front of my eyes. It is not yet too late to save him, but we have no money to buy Cancidas. I have been a widow for four years. I bring up my children all by myself: Ilya is 13, and Roman, who lives at my sister's home now, is 15 years old. I cannot work now, because I am taking care of Ilya at hospital, and our only income is my widow's pension. And we need 20,000 USD to buy 30 vials of the medicine that can save Ilya. Our relatives are not numerous, and they cannot provide such a sum, in spite of all their concern for Ilya.

Svetlana Averina,
town of Pitkyaranta, Republic of Karelia

March 8, 2004