Dear Friends!
This fund is set up to urgently help Artem, son of our close friends from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to fight for his life.
Artem was born 9 years ago together with his twin brother, Arseni. While Arseni was completely healthy, Artem suffered from a severe brain condition, known as hydrocephalus or "water on the brain". In simple words, it is a build-up of fluids in the cavities deep within the brain. The extra fluid puts pressure on the brain and causes brain damage. The most common treatment is surgical insertion of a drainage system, called a shunt, which can only control the fluid, but not cure it completely.
Since just a few days old, Artem and his family have been fighting for his life and did everything they could to get him as close to normal life functions as his condition allowed. Artem had at least one surgical procedure a year since he was born and ongoing rehabilitation. Surrounded by his family's love and care, not only he started catching up to his brother, but even made his first ski steps in Medeu Mountains. We were all so happy to see Artem growing strong.
Last November, however, his condition worsened after a routine procedure of changing the shunt. The surgery did not go as planned and Artem ended up having 3 surgeries within 2 months. As a result, he lost 90% of his vision and had to learn how to walk, sit, eat, etc. Not loosing hope, his family continued intensive treatment.
Today, we received news that Artem's condition is critical due to shunt failure, which pressured on the stem of the brain and dehydrated it. His only chance is an urgent surgery and a new programmable shunt, something that can not be performed in Almaty. Russian neurosurgeons agreed to operate, and the cheapest quote came from St. Petersburg (Filatov Institute). Total cost for surgery, hospitalization, cost of medications and shunt is about $10000 (all detailed documents, including diagnosis and costing is available). This does not include travel and accommodation costs.
Artem and his brother Arseni are raised by a single mother, who is struggling to keep up with all medical bills that come her way. She never asked for help, but I, along with my friends, want to make sure she has the support and resources to keep fighting for Artem's life.
For Artem, this is very urgent - the surgery needs to be done next week (July 1-7, 2019).
If you can help in any way, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your care, generosity and kindness.
This fund is set up to urgently help Artem, son of our close friends from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to fight for his life.
Artem was born 9 years ago together with his twin brother, Arseni. While Arseni was completely healthy, Artem suffered from a severe brain condition, known as hydrocephalus or "water on the brain". In simple words, it is a build-up of fluids in the cavities deep within the brain. The extra fluid puts pressure on the brain and causes brain damage. The most common treatment is surgical insertion of a drainage system, called a shunt, which can only control the fluid, but not cure it completely.
Since just a few days old, Artem and his family have been fighting for his life and did everything they could to get him as close to normal life functions as his condition allowed. Artem had at least one surgical procedure a year since he was born and ongoing rehabilitation. Surrounded by his family's love and care, not only he started catching up to his brother, but even made his first ski steps in Medeu Mountains. We were all so happy to see Artem growing strong.
Last November, however, his condition worsened after a routine procedure of changing the shunt. The surgery did not go as planned and Artem ended up having 3 surgeries within 2 months. As a result, he lost 90% of his vision and had to learn how to walk, sit, eat, etc. Not loosing hope, his family continued intensive treatment.
Today, we received news that Artem's condition is critical due to shunt failure, which pressured on the stem of the brain and dehydrated it. His only chance is an urgent surgery and a new programmable shunt, something that can not be performed in Almaty. Russian neurosurgeons agreed to operate, and the cheapest quote came from St. Petersburg (Filatov Institute). Total cost for surgery, hospitalization, cost of medications and shunt is about $10000 (all detailed documents, including diagnosis and costing is available). This does not include travel and accommodation costs.
Artem and his brother Arseni are raised by a single mother, who is struggling to keep up with all medical bills that come her way. She never asked for help, but I, along with my friends, want to make sure she has the support and resources to keep fighting for Artem's life.
For Artem, this is very urgent - the surgery needs to be done next week (July 1-7, 2019).
If you can help in any way, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your care, generosity and kindness.
Organizer
Olesya Gafurova
Organizer
North Kensington, MD