Cancer Misdiagnosis Hope for Lessya
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Article credit goes to the University of Louisville Hospital .
Lessya's Story
When Lessya Kotelevskaya was 19, she owned her own business in Kazakhstan, was married and expecting a baby.
Life seemed good for Lessya, until she went to a sporting event and another fan accidentally hit her in the face while cheering. A few days later, with her jaw starting to swell, Lessya visited a doctor. There, she received a devastating diagnosis that would change the course of her life forever "“ she hadn't injured her jaw, she had cancer in her jawbone. And it was terminal.
She immediately underwent intensive radiation therapy, which damaged her jaw and left the right side of her face permanently disfigured. She was barely able to speak or eat. Now disfigured, Lessya became socially isolated. Once successful, she lost her business, and nobody wanted to hire her because of the way she looked. Her husband left, and eventually, she became homeless.
All the while, she believed she would die.
Ten years later, she weighed just 79 pounds when hope came. Someone in Louisville, Ky., was looking for her "“ her older cousin, Oleg Sennik, who had cared for Lessya as a child in the Ukraine before her family moved to Kazakhstan, then a republic of the Soviet Union, so they could escape the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and her mother could care for a sick relative.
Then one day, in January 2012, his search was over. He found Lessya's sister online, and through her, he found Lessya.
Oleg then embarked on a year-and-a-half mission to help Lessya. He flew back and forth, and while on one trip, he took her to a doctor in Kiev, Ukraine, to find out how much time Lessya really had. What they found shocked them "“ Lessya didn't have cancer. She never did.
She now had a second chance, and Oleg brought her and her son, Erik, to Louisville. At the end of July 2013, Lessya's paperwork was approved and she and Erik finally arrived. Now safe in Louisville, hope found her again:Dr. Jarrod Little, a plastic and reconstructive and head and neck surgeon with University of Louisville Physicians and an assistant professor in the divisions of Otolaryngology and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, and his team learned of her story and agreed to help Lessya, who had suffered so much.
Photos
TIMELINEJan. 30, 2014:The reconstructive surgery, performed by Dr. Little, will take place at University of Louisville Hospital, a part of KentuckyOne Health.
Nov. 14, 2013:Lessya's initial surgery, performed by Dr. Little, will take place at University of Louisville Hospital, a part of KentuckyOne Health.
August 2013:Erik, now 6, starts school for the first time.
August 2013:Lessya sees plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Jarrod Little, a plastic and reconstructive and head and neck surgeon with University of Louisville Physicians and an assistant professor in the divisions of Otolaryngology and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at theUniversity of Louisville School of Medicine, after a client of Oleg's hair salon puts them in touch. Dr. Little, who had been hearing Lessya's story from colleagues and friends, offers to help Lessya for free.
July 5, 2013:Lessya and Erik arrive in the United States at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, with just two bags of clothes and Erik's toys between them. Oleg is there to meet them. Lessya and Erik begin a new life in Louisville with Oleg.
May 2012:On a visit to see Lessya, Oleg brings her to Kiev, Ukraine, to see a top medical oncologist to find out how much time she really has. The doctor looks at her original pathology slides, which had been stored in an area for deceased patients in Kazakhstan. Lessya undergoes a battery of new X-rays and tests, and the original slides are reviewed by expert pathologists. It is determined that Lessya never had cancer.
Lessya now has hope.
January 2012:Oleg finds Lessya's sister online, and through her, finds Lessya and her mother and father. He learns of Lessya's condition and is determined to help her. When he first sees Lessya, she weighs just 79 pounds. He begins the process of bringing her and Erik to Louisville, and in the meantime, he flies back and forth to see her and sends money to help.
Lessya's mother and father had separated years earlier, and Vladimir had become homeless himself. Because of lost immigration paperwork, he was unable to return to Ukraine. Oleg calls his grandmother in Russia and tells her that her son Vladimir, missing for more than 20 years, is indeed alive.
2002-2012:Lessya has trouble finding a job because no one wants to interact with her. She does odd jobs out of the public eye, including washing cars and spreading sand on the stairs of homes for traction during the winter when the temperature dips to -40 below zero. Essentially homeless, she lives in the basement of a car wash with no running water.
2010:Oleg and his sister, Anna, leave Sebastian and open their own salon in St. Matthews.
2007:Lessya's son, Erik, is born healthy.
Lessya's husband, who has been in and out of her life, leaves.
2006:Lessya becomes pregnant with son Erik, and has something to live for. But doctors refuse prenatal care because of her condition.
2002:A few months later, Lessya visits a doctor about her jaw, and the doctor examines her and sends a biopsy off to Russia for tests.
Lessya flies to Russia to pick up her test results and bring them back to Kazakhstan. Lessya is diagnosed with terminal cancer in her jaw bone. She is told she has three days to three months to live.
Lessya undergoes intensive radiation therapy to her jaw in Kazakhstan. She completes 40 of the 60 treatments prescribed, then leaves the hospital, refusing chemotherapy after overhearing doctors discussing other patients dying from the treatment.
Lessya returns home, in pain, and her classmates and friends come to say goodbye. Lessya loses her business as she is unable to work.
For the next 10 years, she wonders each day if it will be her last, but each day, she survives.
Late 2001:Lessya, still living in Kazakhstan, is 19 and owns a clothing boutique with her husband. The two attend a basketball game, and when the crowd stands to cheer, a fan accidentally hits Lessya in the jaw. She hears a crack, and over the next few days, her jaw begins to swell. The swelling goes away, but a bump remains.
2001:Oleg moves back to Louisville with his sister, Anna, and continues working for Sebastian.
1996:Oleg, who received training as a hairstylist in Ukraine and Europe, moves to the United States and works as a hairdresser. He first lives in Louisville, then moves to San Francisco, Calif., where he works with the artistic team of Sebastian hair care. He works with celebrities and travels the world.
1991:Soviet Union falls.
1990:Oleg begins looking for Lessya and her family.
1986-1990:Oleg's family and Lessya's family lose touch during the turmoil as the Soviet Union breaks up. Letters are being sent between them, but not delivered.
1987:Lessya's sister, Lyana, is born in Kazakhstan.
1986:Lessya, her mother, Olga, and her father, Vladimir, move to Borovskoe, Kazakhstan, so Olga could care for her mother and stepfather, who were ill, and the family could escape the fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine. Oleg and his family stay in Kiev. Lessya's father takes a job as a miner in the Ural Mountains.
1983-1986:Oleg, whose mother, Valentyna, is Vladimir's sister, babysits for Lessya when her mother and father are working. Lessya's mother is working as a nurse, and her father as an ambulance driver.
1983:Lessya's parents, Vladimir and Olga Sennik, are married in the spring in Kiev, Ukraine. Lessya was born in November.
More Links
Wave3.com - Surgeon to reconstruct woman's disfigured face after jaw cancer misdiagnosis
Article credit goes to the University of Louisville Hospital .
Lessya's Story
When Lessya Kotelevskaya was 19, she owned her own business in Kazakhstan, was married and expecting a baby.Life seemed good for Lessya, until she went to a sporting event and another fan accidentally hit her in the face while cheering. A few days later, with her jaw starting to swell, Lessya visited a doctor. There, she received a devastating diagnosis that would change the course of her life forever "“ she hadn't injured her jaw, she had cancer in her jawbone. And it was terminal.
She immediately underwent intensive radiation therapy, which damaged her jaw and left the right side of her face permanently disfigured. She was barely able to speak or eat. Now disfigured, Lessya became socially isolated. Once successful, she lost her business, and nobody wanted to hire her because of the way she looked. Her husband left, and eventually, she became homeless.
All the while, she believed she would die.
Ten years later, she weighed just 79 pounds when hope came. Someone in Louisville, Ky., was looking for her "“ her older cousin, Oleg Sennik, who had cared for Lessya as a child in the Ukraine before her family moved to Kazakhstan, then a republic of the Soviet Union, so they could escape the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and her mother could care for a sick relative.
Dr. Jarrod Little, a plastic surgeon at University of Louisville Physicians, and his team learned of her story and agreed to help Lessya, who had suffered so much.After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the two families lost touch, and Oleg later came to the United States, eventually settling in Louisville. But for more than 20 years, he kept looking for Lessya and her family.
Then one day, in January 2012, his search was over. He found Lessya's sister online, and through her, he found Lessya.
Oleg then embarked on a year-and-a-half mission to help Lessya. He flew back and forth, and while on one trip, he took her to a doctor in Kiev, Ukraine, to find out how much time Lessya really had. What they found shocked them "“ Lessya didn't have cancer. She never did.
She now had a second chance, and Oleg brought her and her son, Erik, to Louisville. At the end of July 2013, Lessya's paperwork was approved and she and Erik finally arrived. Now safe in Louisville, hope found her again:Dr. Jarrod Little, a plastic and reconstructive and head and neck surgeon with University of Louisville Physicians and an assistant professor in the divisions of Otolaryngology and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, and his team learned of her story and agreed to help Lessya, who had suffered so much.
Photos
TIMELINEJan. 30, 2014:The reconstructive surgery, performed by Dr. Little, will take place at University of Louisville Hospital, a part of KentuckyOne Health.
Nov. 14, 2013:Lessya's initial surgery, performed by Dr. Little, will take place at University of Louisville Hospital, a part of KentuckyOne Health.
August 2013:Erik, now 6, starts school for the first time.
August 2013:Lessya sees plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Jarrod Little, a plastic and reconstructive and head and neck surgeon with University of Louisville Physicians and an assistant professor in the divisions of Otolaryngology and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at theUniversity of Louisville School of Medicine, after a client of Oleg's hair salon puts them in touch. Dr. Little, who had been hearing Lessya's story from colleagues and friends, offers to help Lessya for free.
July 5, 2013:Lessya and Erik arrive in the United States at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, with just two bags of clothes and Erik's toys between them. Oleg is there to meet them. Lessya and Erik begin a new life in Louisville with Oleg.
May 2012:On a visit to see Lessya, Oleg brings her to Kiev, Ukraine, to see a top medical oncologist to find out how much time she really has. The doctor looks at her original pathology slides, which had been stored in an area for deceased patients in Kazakhstan. Lessya undergoes a battery of new X-rays and tests, and the original slides are reviewed by expert pathologists. It is determined that Lessya never had cancer.
Lessya now has hope.
January 2012:Oleg finds Lessya's sister online, and through her, finds Lessya and her mother and father. He learns of Lessya's condition and is determined to help her. When he first sees Lessya, she weighs just 79 pounds. He begins the process of bringing her and Erik to Louisville, and in the meantime, he flies back and forth to see her and sends money to help.
Lessya's mother and father had separated years earlier, and Vladimir had become homeless himself. Because of lost immigration paperwork, he was unable to return to Ukraine. Oleg calls his grandmother in Russia and tells her that her son Vladimir, missing for more than 20 years, is indeed alive.
2002-2012:Lessya has trouble finding a job because no one wants to interact with her. She does odd jobs out of the public eye, including washing cars and spreading sand on the stairs of homes for traction during the winter when the temperature dips to -40 below zero. Essentially homeless, she lives in the basement of a car wash with no running water.
2010:Oleg and his sister, Anna, leave Sebastian and open their own salon in St. Matthews.
2007:Lessya's son, Erik, is born healthy.
Lessya's husband, who has been in and out of her life, leaves.
2006:Lessya becomes pregnant with son Erik, and has something to live for. But doctors refuse prenatal care because of her condition.
2002:A few months later, Lessya visits a doctor about her jaw, and the doctor examines her and sends a biopsy off to Russia for tests.
Lessya flies to Russia to pick up her test results and bring them back to Kazakhstan. Lessya is diagnosed with terminal cancer in her jaw bone. She is told she has three days to three months to live.
Lessya undergoes intensive radiation therapy to her jaw in Kazakhstan. She completes 40 of the 60 treatments prescribed, then leaves the hospital, refusing chemotherapy after overhearing doctors discussing other patients dying from the treatment.
Lessya returns home, in pain, and her classmates and friends come to say goodbye. Lessya loses her business as she is unable to work.
For the next 10 years, she wonders each day if it will be her last, but each day, she survives.
Late 2001:Lessya, still living in Kazakhstan, is 19 and owns a clothing boutique with her husband. The two attend a basketball game, and when the crowd stands to cheer, a fan accidentally hits Lessya in the jaw. She hears a crack, and over the next few days, her jaw begins to swell. The swelling goes away, but a bump remains.
2001:Oleg moves back to Louisville with his sister, Anna, and continues working for Sebastian.
1996:Oleg, who received training as a hairstylist in Ukraine and Europe, moves to the United States and works as a hairdresser. He first lives in Louisville, then moves to San Francisco, Calif., where he works with the artistic team of Sebastian hair care. He works with celebrities and travels the world.
1991:Soviet Union falls.
1990:Oleg begins looking for Lessya and her family.
1986-1990:Oleg's family and Lessya's family lose touch during the turmoil as the Soviet Union breaks up. Letters are being sent between them, but not delivered.
1987:Lessya's sister, Lyana, is born in Kazakhstan.
1986:Lessya, her mother, Olga, and her father, Vladimir, move to Borovskoe, Kazakhstan, so Olga could care for her mother and stepfather, who were ill, and the family could escape the fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine. Oleg and his family stay in Kiev. Lessya's father takes a job as a miner in the Ural Mountains.
1983-1986:Oleg, whose mother, Valentyna, is Vladimir's sister, babysits for Lessya when her mother and father are working. Lessya's mother is working as a nurse, and her father as an ambulance driver.
1983:Lessya's parents, Vladimir and Olga Sennik, are married in the spring in Kiev, Ukraine. Lessya was born in November.
More Links
Wave3.com - Surgeon to reconstruct woman's disfigured face after jaw cancer misdiagnosis
Organizer
Oleg Sennik
Organizer
Louisville, KY
