Fighting during the half-life

He tours around Ukraine with his concerts and gives all the money earned from performances to oncological patients, whereas the musician himself needs help – Sergiy Polivanov has Hodgkin's lymphoma. And the only, last chance to kill the disease is to continue the treatment with the drug ‘Ribomustine’. There is no money left however for the last 3 courses that have to be undergone and all possessions which could be sold have been already sold. To continue the treatment it is necessary to raise nearly UAH 100,000.

The frightful diagnosis Hodgkin's lymphoma was made when Sergiy was 12. That news had an effect of an exploded bomb on his parents, already not young people – there were neither savings nor relatives who could help. Specialists of the Regional Central Clinical Hospital proposed treatment that resulted in remission. But the joy did not last long – in half a year there was a relapse. And again 5 months of painful procedures. Then remission – this time the disease has not manifested itself for as many as 4 years. During that time Sergiy left the 11th form of the school, entered Donetsk State University, started his third year of studies, practice-taught in a secondary school, working as teacher of Russian, organized his first rock group ‘Red Wave’. Then another six months of chemotherapy, following which doctors were just at a loss – they did not know what to do next. And it is difficult to call life what Sergiy and his family had to survive later: an oncotomy surgery on the left lung, partial remission, chemotherapy again, column cells grafting, again relapse with metastases in 11 months after the latter.

Sergiy’s parents resolved to seek advice at Gorbachova Institute in St. Petersburg. The Head of the Chemotherapy Department, Professor Mikhailova, recommended undergoing 8 courses of therapy with Ribomustine. The price was impressive – 100 mg of Ribomustine (at the point of a knife) cost 1000 conventional units. And the required quantity is four of such ‘points’. And if multiplied by a necessary number of courses, that was an astronomical sum for the retired parents.

To pay for the first course of Ribomustine, Sergiy’s parents sold their car and garage – the last possessions which could have been sold. Another course was paid for by the City Executive Committee, Sergiy’s friends and colleagues. The third course was financed by Rinat Akhmetov’s Fund. There are 5 courses left, each costing UAH 30,000 – totaling UAH 168,504. They managed to raise on their own only UAH 70 thousand.

“Please help our only son! He is the dearest and beloved man for us in this life. Whatever we could, we have already spent on the treatment. If it were possible to give our lives for him to live, we would have done it off hand. The drug we need to raise money for (Ribomustine) is the only chance for us and Sergiy, his last hope of recovery”. Sergiy’s father and mother.

Name: Sergiy Y. Polivanov, born in 1987.

Address: Kuibyshevski Rayon, Donetsk-60, Donetsk Region.

Diagnosis: Hodgkin's lymphoma of the ІІ U degree, sclera-nodular type.