Lena Shikhova only found a doctor for Pavlik in Germany. He promises to remove the tumor from his eye quickly and painlessly.
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Living to See Another Summer
Pavlik Shikhov is almost three. He has advanced retinoblastoma of the eye, that is, a malignant tumor. If the tumor had grown inward, it would have metastasized through his body and saving his life would have been unlikely. So Pavlik is lucky the tumor is growing outward. It is so painful that the boy has been receiving painkillers and sedatives intravenously for several days. Russian doctors cannot save Pavlik's life. He urgently needs an operation in Germany. But it costs 850,000 rubles. That is more money than Pavlik's parents have seen in their lives.
What do you say to a three-year-old to make him less bashful? Maybe hello from Shrek. If that doesn't do it, Kevin from the land of dragons might. I smile a little as I think about it walking down the hallway in the Ekaterinburg regional hospital on my way to see Pavlik. His mother Lena told me that he likes cartoons.
My smile faded the moment I entered Pavlik's room. I knew that he was in bad shape, but I had no idea how bad. Now he is asleep. Bandages cover half his face. There is a breathing tube in his mouth. An IV pole stands nearby and he has a catheter in his vein. His arms are covered with bruises from the catheters. His exposed eye is closed. Even asleep, he is obviously in agony.
“Maybe we can wake him,” I inquire of his mother, even though I know that Pavlik isn't up to Shrek and Kevin.
“He can't be awakened now. They gave him painkillers and sedatives. Otherwise he screams from the pain,” Lena tells me.
Catastrophe struck Pavlik year ago. As usual, it started small. His eyes are blue-gray. His pupil suddenly turned yellow. Pavlik was in pain, it was getting worse and the tumor could be seen. His parents took him to eye doctor, but they only shrugged their shoulders. Lena got an appointment with the chief surgeon of Ekaterinburg, and he was the only one who could make a diagnosis: retinoblastoma of the eye, a malignant tumor. It is a blood red lump that presses on the boy's eye. If it begins to grow inward, it will metastasize throughout his body. That hasn't happened yet.
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The Russian Aid Fund was founded in 1996 to assistant the authors of desperate letters sent to Kommersant. We verify the letters with the help of local authorities, then publish the letters in Kommersant, Domovoi magazine and on the site www.rusfond.ru. If you decide to help, you will receive the banking details of the authors of the letters, and the rest is up to you. You just help you help. This approach has been popular with our readers. More than $8.4 million has been collected. We also organize relief efforts during national catastrophes, for 53 families of the miners who died in the Zyryanovskaya Mine in Kuzbass, 57 families of the policemen who burned to death in Samara, 153 families of the victims of explosions in Moscow and Volgodonsk, 118 families of the sailors who died on the submarine Kursk, 52 families of the hostages who died in the seizure of the performance of Nord Ost, 39 families of those who died in the Moscow Metro on February 6, 2004, 100 families who suffered losses in Beslan. The Fund is the winner of the Silver Archer award.
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All the doctors before the chief surgeon had made mistakes in their diagnoses because they were thinking about something else. When Pavlik was born, he didn't cry as babies should. Instead he began to suffocate. He was taken to the emergency room and put on artificial respiration. After a day, he was given to his parents. But on the third day of life, the boy stopped breathing again and had to be taken back to the emergency room. As a result, he suffered brain damage and damage to his central nervous system.
All the oculists the Shikhovs consulted referred them to neurologists. Time, which is a decisive factor in oncology, was lost. At the initial stage, retinoblastoma is easily treatable. But it is much more complex to treat in the advanced stage. That is what Pavlik has. They perform such operations only in Germany. There they can remove the tumor and leave an implant. They say the operation is quick and not terrible. In Russia, such operations are still experimental.
“My Pavlik is unusual,” Lena says in a quiet voice as she watches the sleeping boy. He's so good-natured. He was smiling from the first day.”
I believe that Pavlik is unusual. The Shikhovs told me that he is happy, outgoing and musically inclined. I thought he would tell me himself about playing the xylophone and accompanying himself with bells. When Lena tell me instead, I think that the world is full of another kind of mother, one that would be reduced to frenzy and migraines by xylophone-and-bell concerts and who would give a child like that to an orphanage. But they love Pavlik.
He has had at least one stroke of luck with this disease. The tumor has not metastasized. But it causes the boy horrible pain. He has been under sedation for several days.
The doctors in Ekaterinburg say openly that they can ease his pain, but they cannot save the boy's life.
German doctors can help. But Pavlik's parents don't have the 850,000 rubles necessary for the operation. For all three years of his life, Pavlik's parents have been spending their wages on medicine and consultations for him. Pavlik's father is a mechanic, and his mother hasn't worked for a long time. She stays with her son round the clock.
I leave the hospital and walk through Ekaterinburg, think about what I would have said to Pavlik if he had been awake. I wouldn't talk about Shrek. I would tell him that I have seen many children in the last year – disoriented and bald after chemotherapy, panting with blue lips because of heart defects, hunchbacks with fourth-degree scoliosis. And I saw them later, when they were average children, happy and carefree, as though they had never had anything bad happen to them. I think that it will work out that way for Pavlik too. It should, since doctors can help him.
Maybe you won't need my life-confirming stories next year, Pavlik, and we can talk about what's new in Shrek's life. Or Kevin's. We'll definitely talk about those things next year.
If Pavlik has a next year.
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591,000 Rubles Are Needed to Save Pavlik Shikhov
Pavlik Shikhov's doctor says that no therapy will help the boy now. Professor of neuropathology Tatyana Shtarkman said that “Pavlik has retinoblastoma of the left eye with invasion of the intraorbital section of the left optic nerve.” She says that only surgical intervention in a Moscow clinic or abroad can save the child, and it must take place soon. Operating on an eye tumor in Ekaterinburg would be a great risk, Shtarkman adds.
The University Clinic in Essen, Germany, has accepted the challenge of helping the Shikhovs. There is a ophthalmology center there led by Professor Norbert Bornfeld has agreed to treat the boy as soon as possible. He says that treatment of retinoblastoma is one of the clinic's specialties. Retinoblastoma is one of the most widespread eye diseases in children and one of the few oncological diseases that is there is a highly effective treatment for.
On is arrival, a more in-depth diagnosis procedure will be carried out, under anesthesia. With the correct diagnosis and treatment, up to 95 percent of the little patients have a full recovery, Bornfeld said.
The 850,000 ruble cost includes all expenses for the Shikhovs' trip to Germany, including medical treatment, living expenses, transportation and he services of an interpreter. The treatment itself costs ˆ11,000, or 383,000 rubles. The remaining 467,000 rubles the Shikhovs have to pay for insurance, housing in Germany, transportation and an interpreter. As always, our partner the Capital Investment Group will contribute $10,000 (see details at www.rusfond.ru). Thus, 591,000 rubles remain to be raised.
Dear friends! You can send you aid directly to the clinic in Essen (ˆ11,000 immediately) or you can transfer rubles to the savings account the fund opened for Pavlik's mother, Elena Yuryevna Shikhova, in Moscow. Any aid will be gratefully accepted. All banking details can be obtained from the fund.
The Expert Group of the Russian Aid Fund
Andrey Kozenko
All the Article in Russian as of June 01, 2007
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