Below is a letter sent to us from a friend of Anastasia's mother. It was originally written in Russian, and I had a Russian co-worker translate it for me.
I’m writing now and appealing to everybody on behalf of my friend, who has been staying for many days at the department of intensive chemotherapy of the Ohmatdet children’s clinic. She does not even have the time to get a swig of water… and trust me, I don’t mean it in an allegorical sense. As it usually happens, disaster comes to our homes from an unexpected direction… even though, how is it possible to expect disaster at all… a few days ago their 4-year old daughter Nastya was diagnosed with myeloid leucosis (to put it simply, some kind of blood cancer) … I don’t think I need to write about what the feelings of my classmates and friends (Lena and Yura Drachuk) were at that moment … you wouldn’t want to hear such news even in a nightmare … It took only a few days to knock over everything that was traditional and stable in their life, and to start the countdown and fight for the kid’s life.
I understand that I’m writing about something that is often shown on TV, printed in newspapers… it’s just that I preferred not to pay attention to it before …
But now, when a real and very familiar tiny kid lies, wrapped in IVs, expecting to get “chemicals” for 11 days in order to kill practically all of what is alive inside, just to stop the illness, I started to look differently at life and its values. I ask myself from where this fragile girl-mother, several days without sleep, gets the strength to clean up the place 4 times a day, wash and dress her daughter, measure her blood pressure and body temperature, write down when and how much water she drank, when and how often she attended the bathroom, prepare the food right there in the microwave, check what medicine, what pill to give and when – because our nurses, it appears, are under no obligation to do any of it; because our “classy” hospitals, which are (according to TV) well funded, can’t even provide the bare necessities, when the same nurses ask – are you here for the first time? Get used to it! You have to do all of it yourself! But, the most difficult part is to look into the eyes of her 4-year old, who does not even understand what happened … how to explain to her that they are locked inside, away from fresh air and sun for at least half a year; that even her Dad is not allowed, because he could bring an infection; how to explain why her stomach, legs and arms hurt, why she is not allowed to eat at all - eating is not allowed during chemotherapy, and Nastya gets it 24 hours a day. Nastya endures it all, she just cries silently, and says “Mom, wipe out my tears, please” – to which I just want to cry and howl myself.
Believe me, I write this all not to call for your pity – it’s not needed, I don’t believe people who say that “someone else’s pain smarts”- only your own pain does. But, I do believe that there no such thing as someone else’s children… and they need no pity, just help, normal human support and help, when, you know, you go out for lunch, and the change – 10 cents, 2,5, 10 dollars, you can put on their account. The sum is not important, just the warmth of your soul and the kindness of your mind.
I’m not a mother myself yet, and I don’t know if I was able to convey to you that silent and desperate cry of the mother who’s losing the most precious in her life – her child. No, I am not a mother, but motherly instincts exist in every woman, which is why I am addressing to you - to you who know the joys of motherhood: don’t just remain indifferent.
My friend - she is strong, she will endure it. I am certain. Because, she is a Mother! She will do all that is possible and impossible for her child!! She will endure everything! But, trite as it may sound, besides her desperate fight and prayers of relatives and friends, they need money for medical treatment. Yes, now, besides everything else, Nastya’s life depends on a few pieces of paper, which is usually called money, but whose price is the kid’s tears and pain.
Nastya Drachuk is waiting for, and will be grateful for, any help.
Contact phone numbers (All numbers are for Ukraine):
- Yura (Father): +380979461283
- Galina (Godmother): +380673389417
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