Valya died on February 2, 2010

Another Valya's photo

Hello!
My name is Valentina Efimova. I used to have a normal family. Two children and a husband. Our children were growing up and my husband and I worked. In 1992 our daughter met a young man and soon they started living together.
On February 23, 1994 my granddaughter Valya was born. In 1995 my daughter began looking for a job and Valya started daycare. On one of those days my daughter left home and never came back. I still know nothing about what happened to her. This is how I was left with my granddaughter. After some time, my husband and I separated. Time was passing by, and the girl was growing up. I worked, and my son was helping me with bringing Valya up. Her father had never participated in her life. In 2005 my son died and Valya and I were left completely alone.
I started to get sick often and could not continue working. I retired. And now we face a new challenge. Valya got sick. She has a lymphoma. Valya needs expensive treatment. The money is needed for medications and for good nutrition. We have no relatives to help us.
Dear friends, please help us! Valya really wants to get well!

Thank you in advance!
Valentina Ivanovna

Update as of September 20, 2008. Valya does not feel well. She is fatigued and has no appetite. Valya drinks very little. For the third day she has diarrhea and stomachache.

Update as of September 25, 2008. Since after the first chemotherapy Valya's condition was worsening, she was transferred to intensive care unit. Her condition now normalized, although her leukocyte counts are low and Valya needs blood donations of blood type II(+). She still suffers from stomatitis.

Update as of September 26, 2008. Valya's condition is improving and the stomatitis is going away. Her blood counts are recovering. However, Valya still feels depressed. She is very upset about losing her hair and cries often.

Update as of October 1, 2008. Good news! After chemotherapy Valya's tumor shrank almost in half. The girl is also in a better mood. A few days ago she even joined a celebration at the game room. Valya is very concerned that she is missing school and she really wants to study.

Update as of October 8, 2008. Valya completed the second chemotherapy course. She feels relatively well, although she does not get up often. She mostly lies down. Valya suffers from stomatitis: she has an appetite, but it hurts to chew and swallow.

Update as of October 17, 2008. Valya does not feel very well. A severe stomatitis does not allow her eat, but without food she has no strength. The doctors recommended her a special nutrition, Clinutren. We would like to thank Marina who purchased it for Valya.

Update as of November 11, 2008. Today Valya had CT scan. The dynamic is positive.

Update as of November 13, 2008. Valya feels relatively well, although she suffers from digestive problems. Valya, her grandmother and their doctor are very happy with the positive dynamic that was shown on CT scan. Valya is now getting ready for the next chemotherapy round.

Update as of November 19, 2008. Valya is finishing the fourth cycle of chemotherapy. She is not tolerating it very well; she feels dizzy, fatigued and lacks appetite. Valya is also starting to develop stomatitis. Still, she tries to distract herself and goes to game room or walks outside with her grandmother.

Update as of December 12, 2008. Valya's condition is grave: bad stomatitis, weakness, vomiting, a temperature of 35-36C. But there is good news too: PET and computed tomography show that her tumor is dead.

Update as of December 16, 2008. Valya completed the fifth chemotherapy cycle. She feels unwell due to severe stomatitis. She wants to eat, but cannot, because it is very painful. Her throat, mouth and lips are all sore. Valya also has high temperature - 38C. She is also fatigued and dizzy.
Valya's grandmother

Update as of January 8, 2009. Today Valya completed the sixth chemotherapy course. He feels well, except for a bit of fatigue. We celebrated the New Year at home.
Valya's grandmother

Update as of January 15, 2009. Valya needs to undergo PET and CT scans next week. Their total cost is 25,000 rubles. Please help!

Update as of January 22, 2009. Today we are going for PET and CT scans. We are really hoping for good news. Valya's test results are not yet very good, as she has low leukocytes and abnormal thrombocytes. She was prescribed one more cycle of high-dosage chemotherapy and will undergo bone marrow collection for transplantation.
Valya's grandmother

Update as of January 30, 2009. Valya is now at home. On Tuesday she will be admitted to the second floor of the hospital for collection of her bone marrow and subsequent autotransplantation.

Update as of February 8, 2009. Valya is visiting a dentist, which is necessary to prepare for autotransplantation.

Update as of April 15, 2009 Valya was admitted to the Bone Marrow Transplantation Clinic for stem cell harvesting. The girl will be allowed to go home for some time before the transplantation.

Update as of May 24, 2009. Based on biopsy results, live cancer cells were not found. On May 27th, Valya is scheduled for PET of mediastinum. If all the indicators confirm remission, Valya will immediately undergo autotransplantation. Otherwise, she will receive a block of high-dosage chemotherapy first.

Update as of June 3, 2009. Based on PET results, Valya’s tumor grew to 8 cm. Today she was admitted to St. Petersburg's Medical University and she started chemotherapy immediately.

Update as of July 1, 2009. After the first round of chemotherapy, Valya was transferred to hospital No.31 to continue her treatment there. Transplantation has been postponed.

Update as of July 10, 2009. Valya finished the 9th course of chemotherapy. She is now receiving therapy with antibiotics and feeling a little better.
Valya had high temperature for a long time. She still does not eat well, faints, and has a bad cough. Valya goes to the game room, but cannot stay there for a long time.
Valya's grandmother

Update as of August 5, 2009. Valya completed a round of chemotherapy, and all her blood counts are now low. The doctors gave her three platelets transfusions, and a blood transfusion. She was also treated for problems with stomach and liver. Valya was prescribed calcium and magnesium. She is now felling better, and started getting up and going outside. We are waiting for her next round of tests to be scheduled.
Valya's grandmother

Update as of August 16, 2009. After another course of MabThera, based on test results, Valya's tumor shrank in half. Valya is coughing less and feels better. She was even allowed to go home for a day. Valya will continue therapy with MabThera.

Update as of August 21, 2009. Today is Valya's second day of chemotherapy. She feels well. Last night she was administered MabThera.

Update as of September 6, 2009. Valya finished another chemotherapy round. For four days she did not eat well, as she was constantly feeling nauseous and was vomiting. She was receiving balanced enteral nutrition in part. At this time, Valya's blood counts are plummeting. She tries to takes walks outside as often as she can. Valya really wants to go to school. She started reading a lot and dreams of recovering as fast as she can.

Update as of October 2, 2009. Based on PET imaging results, Valya's tumor has live cells. As a result, transplantation was postponed. Valya needs to undergo two more courses of chemotherapy with Gemzar and MabThera.

Update as of November 20, 2009. Valya completed 13th round of chemotherapy. She feels relatively well, but cannot walk for a long time. Sometimes, she studies algebra, English or Russian. Valya really wants to recover and come back home.
Valya's grandmother

Update as of December 27, 2009. Valya is done with the 14th chemotherapy course. She's not feeling well, she has edema and is very weak. We are waiting for the treatment to continue.

Update as of January 14, 2010. Valya is undergoing therapy with Avastin. She feels unwell and depressed. Valya suffers from severe swelling.

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