Help save Masha's life!

This is a photo of my niece Masha, when she was about 5 years old. I bring this photo with me every time she is hospitalized which happens at least once a month. Look, I tell the doctors and nurses, look at this beautiful, mischievous child, her life full of promise! There are other photos I bring: Masha playing tennis, laughing with her friends, hugging here's  grandparents, standing proudly at her high school graduation... I bring the photos so that people who meet her could see beyond her illness, could imagine the person behind the madness, a girl who is held hostage by a cruel disease. A girl who is a gifted athlete, aspiring dancer, a girl who always strives to do the right thing, who never passes judgment on others.

It is often hard to see that girl behind the illness, even for me.

Masha is 27 years old now. For the past 9 years she has been suffering from schizophrenia. The illness developed quickly, and Masha changed dramatically and almost overnight. She stopped making sense, and became preoccupied with voices and hallucinations, paranoid, with bouts of psychosis. She lost interest in everything, even personal hygiene is a struggle. Over these nine years she has been prescribed various anti-psychotic medication, with various degrees of failure. Some caused her to gain over 100 pounds while only minimally alleviating her suffering, some caused irreversible neurological damage, others just didn't work at all. And worst of all, when the medication did work well enough for her old self to peak through, she would go off the medication and the cycle would start over.

Since my niece got sick at the age of 18, she is considered an adult and is expected to make decisions in regards to her treatment. The problem with a person whose mind is disabled by mental illness is that they cannot recognize that they are ill and cannot make adequate decisions.

The most frustrating thing is the fact that we are unable to help in any way, we are not allowed to have any say in her treatment, and at times are even unable to get any information on how she is. "Masha is an adult", we are told. Had she gotten sick a few months earlier, when she was still 17, her mother Anna would have been appointed her guardian. She would have been able to have constructive input into various options for treatment.

In order for Anna to become her guardian now, she would need to hire an attorney. After meeting with several attorneys We now have an estimate of how much the process might cost: anywhere between 10 to 15 thousand dollars. If the court decides in Anna's favor and gives her guardianship, that is just the beginning of a very long and incredibly expensive journey to Masha's recovery. She will never be free of the disease, but with a lot of help, medication, therapy, and unconditional support and love from her family, she can learn to manage the illness, and live a happy and productive life.

I remember when Masha was born. We share the same name. I watched her grow up, full of giggles, hopes of becoming a star, or a firefighter, or at least... a doctor. We share the same name. I cannot bear the thought of my niece becoming just a statistic, yet another "crazy homeless person who "chose" that kind of life. It cannot be that just because we don't have the financial resources that she has to be left without options.

That Is why I am here. To ask for your help. Please help save Masha's life! There is still hope for her, and this, here, is our only hope. Please consider donating! Any amount counts!