Barashova Sofia

A horrible thing happened to the Barashov family from Magnitogorsk city located in the Chelyabinsk region — their youngest daughter Sofia fell ill. It happened in late December of 2018. The little girl was only two then, and just started going to a kindergarten.

 She got a little fever and running nose — regular symptoms of cold. The diagnosis of ARVI was confirmed in the polyclinic. After short-term treatment the symptoms were gone, but reappeared in two weeks: the girl started suffering from fever, back pain and started limping on her left leg. Doctors explained this as a consequence of a previous illness and prescribed an additional antibiotic course, but the fever was not going down and the pain in girl’s back and legs only became worse. One morning Sonya woke up in cold sweat and could not get up from the bed. An ambulance took the girl to an infectious diseases hospital, where she was treated from bronchitis. As soon as the fever went down, the child and her mother were sent home. All of the symptoms reappeared in a week. X-ray showed pneumonia. Another hospitalization! This time the treatment did not work. Little Sonya was constantly lying down, she did not want to play or draw, she was just wasting away quickly.

 In early March of 2019, the results of computer tomography showed a neoplasm located along the posterior mediastinum. Further treatment was carried out in Children’s Clinical Hospital of Chelyabinsk city. Only there the girl was diagnosed with neuroblastoma of bones and bone marrow, stage IV, high risk group.

 In all large treatment centers children with neuroblastoma are treated according to standardized protocols. The goal of all programs is to increase long-term survivability and simultaneously decrease the long-term effects on the child’s body.

 According to German protocol, Sofia underwent two surgeries to remove the tumor, 6 courses of intensive chemotherapy of the first line, and 8 courses of chemotherapy of the second line. She had to go through dozens of general anesthesia procedures and multiple blood components and platelet concentrate transfusions.

 In August of 2020 Sonechka underwent MIBG-therapy with radioactive iodin in the Russian Scientific Center of Roentgenoradiology located in Moscow. After the therapy the girl was hospitalized in Raisa Gorbacheva Scientific Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Transplantology to undergo high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation, which was carried out on August 31, 2020.

 The board of specialists of the federal clinic made the decision that to conclude the treatment the child requires immune therapy with . The medication is not registered in Russia and is extremely expensive. Sofia needs 20 bottles of the medication.

  Sonechka has been bravely fighting for her life for a year and a half! Now she has to undergo the final stage of treatment that will give her a chance of full recovery. She will not make it without the help of those who care. The girl’s parents are unable to purchase the expensive medication with their own funds. Only if we unite, we can collect the required sum and help little Sonya to defeat this insidious disease.