First war, then leukemia

14-year-old Roma Kalenko would now fight with tasks in a textbook and with monsters in a computer game - but instead Roma is fighting leukemia. His mother is raising two children alone. When in 2014 the family had to leave Makeyevka for the Dnipropetrovsk region, it seemed that the worst was over. And now they are faced with a new, more terrifying test: leukemia.

Roma was born in Makeevka, Donetsk region. Due to hostilities, the family had to leave for the Dnepropetrovsk region. We managed to find a small house in the village. There is no work there, so mother Svetlana and her two sons lived on the allowance of a single mother. Somehow they made ends meet.

In February of this year, Roma got a fever. Mom thought it was a common cold and did not go to the doctors: the nearest hospital is 25 km away. The temperature was "brought down" on our own.
For several days everything was fine, but soon the mother began to notice the strange behavior of her son. If before Roma never missed a single school event and actively participated in all quizzes and competitions, then after an illness he became apathetic. And one night the guy had a slight bleeding from the nose, which repeated again a few days later, vomiting began. The mother went to the Mezhevskaya hospital, and from there the boy was sent to the Dnipropetrovsk regional children's hospital.

In the department of hematology they made an examination and sent tests to Okhmatdit, and a couple of days later the diagnosis came: acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Behind Roma has 9 months of treatment, 26 chemotherapy blocks and 9 bone marrow punctures. Due to aggressive "chemistry" blood counts are constantly low, a fungal infection appears on the mucous membrane of the mouth. The child constantly needs expensive supportive drugs. 

Roma is now at home. He was released for a week to take a break from the "chemotherapy", and from mid-July the next stage will begin: continuation of the second protocol, a short break and then again for several months in the hospital.

Mom Svetlana already knows exactly what drugs her son will need. Necessarily expensive Athenativ and Revolad, Ukrliv, Nifuroxazide, Biseptol, Glutargin, Noxafil. Our foundation is opening a fundraising fund of UAH 50,000 for supporting drugs for Roma. A family of immigrants, where the only adult is unemployed, is not able to purchase the necessary drugs. For some time, neighbors and the school helped, but now there is nowhere else to take money for treatment. Relatives of Roma are asking for help to save the boy and return him to normal life!

Name: Kalenko Roman, 18.01.2006

City: Dnipro region

Diagnosis: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 1 acute period, moderate risk group, complex remission