Katya and Kirill
When Katya was 7 she lived in Chita with her twin sister Anya. The girls used to do everything together – they played, did homework and took care of their brother Bogdan who suffers from cerebral palsy. Then Katya became ill and was taken to the oncology department in the Chita regional hospital. Both sisters were terribly unhappy they could not see each other. No matter what the family brought to the hospital be it food or toys - Katya used to put them aside for her brother and sister.
When regular treatment started it became clear then Katya was allergic to the core medicine and that another drug was required. This medicine is not readily available in Russia as it is not licenced in the country, however it is in the UK. The cost of this medicine is an enormous sum of money for Katya’s parents. The Raisa Gorbachev Foundation provided the finance to enable the purchase of this medication for Katya.
Katya felt much better with this treatment as pain was reduced and a healthy appetite came back. However blood tests did not show improvement.
In July 2010 Kata died during her second round of chemotherapy. We are very sorry for Katya’s family’s loss and our thoughts are with them.
Kirill
The remaining drugs were used to treat Kirill who suffers from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and is also allergic to the core medicine. He received chemotherapy in the summer 2010. The treatment for him seems to be effective and now that the intensive phase of his treatment is over and he is in remission. Kirill is now able to live at home and come back to the hospital for check-ups.
