Gonilova Milana

 The worst thing for any parent is to see their child sick! Even a common cold makes the whole family very nervous. Mother and father are ready to do anything to make the illness go away and see a smile on the face of their loved child.

 Little Milana from Yaroslavl started falling sick frequently after she went to the kindergarten. It happens, after all, children have to adapt to new conditions! The child had high fever and cough. The local pediatrician kept prescribing courses of antibiotics, Milana felt better and went to the kindergarten again, but not for a long time because of falling ill again.  It lasted for three months, and then Milana’s parents noticed that she was limping, so they called an ambulance. The ultrasound scan showed the presence of a tumor with the size of 8x9x9 cm. It is hard to imagine what Milana’s parents felt then, when they learned that their child did not have ARVI, but an ONCOLOGICAL DISEASE!

“It was horrible, impossible to describe with any words. Such confusion, lump in the throat, tears, the ground dropping away under the feet. Why me? Why does my child has to suffer? Probably every parent of a child in such a situation asks himself or herself this question. We needed to collect ourselves, even though it was very hard to do, and start a long treatment... We got scary thoughts about the little body not being able to cope with all this.” — Milana’s father shared with us.

 Milana underwent full examination in Yaroslavl Regional Children's Clinical Hospital: CT, MRI, ultrasound. They installed a catheter, arranged a puncture procedure, and bone marrow aspiration procedure. She was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma of retroperitoneum, with metastatic lesions in the bones, bone marrow, and lymph nodes. High risk group.

 On 20.12.2019 the first course of specific chemotherapy started. It was accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and hair loss. Milana felt better, she was no longer limping. It is good that children do not fully understand the gravity and horror of the situation! Children always remain children who want to play and have fun. It was the beginning of hard time, because three courses were ahead.

After the fourth course of chemotherapy, on 24.03.2020 Milana underwent a very complicated surgery at the Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology named after Dmitry Rogachev that lasted for almost 9 hours. More than 98% of tumor was removed. The post-surgery recovery was waiting ahead.

Milana was discharged from the Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology named after Dmitry Rogachev with the following diagnosis: mixed ganglioneuroblastoma of the left adrenal gland, stage 4 (metastatic lesions in bones, bone marrow, and lymph nodes). The fifth course of chemotherapy was completed in Yaroslavl at the place of the family’s residence. On 08.05.2020 Milana underwent stem cell apheresis in the Scientific Research Instituted named after N.N. Blokhin. Later she had to do the 6th course of chemotherapy in the same hospital.

The girl underwent serious challenge. But the worst part is that it is not the end of the fight! The child cannot go back home, go to kindergarten or play with her friends. She has to undergo the next stage of treatment — immune therapy with an expensive medication.

Immune therapy is therapy with antibodies attacking and destroying cancer cells. The risk of recurrence is high without this type of treatment!

 One vial of this medication costs more than one million rubles, and it is not registered in Russia. The girl’s parents need to purchase it using their own money. According to the conclusion of the medical board, Milana requires 20 vials of this very expensive medication for her full recovery! This is an extremely large sum, and the family is not able to collect it on their own! But those scary numbers mean the way to save little Milana!

 Do not leave Milana now! Help her win this cruel fight with the disease! Together we can believe in Milana and help her!