Help my brother Magiz fight cancer

Hello,

My name is Galiya Werner. I have always been a very private person, one who doesn’t like to share publicly about my struggles and difficulties. It is extremely uneasy for me to even start this conversation as I have never had a habit of asking for people’s help. I have always relied on myself and worked very hard to get as far in this life as I have gotten so far. But today I decided to humbly request assistance not for myself but for my only brother Magiz Kussainov, who is fighting for his life since he was diagnosed with a devastating lung cancer several months ago.

I lost my father few years ago to a lung cancer. My mother, who is coping with the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma among other issues is undergoing periodic lengthy medical treatments.

My brother Magiz lived his whole life in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where I was also originally born. It is a beautiful city situated at the foot of the Tian Sian Mountains. Unfortunately, the air pollution is so bad that it looks like black smoke is always covering the city, when you look at it from the nearby mountains. Kazakhstan was also a testing site for nuclear weapons for a number of years under the Soviet Union. The list of issues goes on. The medical care in the country is not up to Western standards and there is no insurance, so you have to pay out of pocket for basically every medical service, procedure, test and medications.

My brother has already endured several rounds of chemotherapy. While waiting for lung surgery, he suffered a heart attack and had to get a stent in his heart. After that the lung surgery was delayed, and he had to go through another couple of rounds of chemotherapy. While waiting again for the doctors to clear him for lung surgery, he suffered another set back: they found two tumors in his brain, which were affecting his speech and ability to move. The doctors decided that they had to operate on those first before they can operate on lungs. He was admitted to the State Oncological Hospital that held him for more than a week. They tested, they waited and then sent him home, refusing to operate. His wife, Lyudmila, who is a full time nurse at one of the local hospitals, and who takes care of my brother, found another regional hospital that has agreed to risk the surgery. He is scheduled for a surgery admission for the 27th of December, 2021.

My brother’s life was never easy. In a country which has a very high unemployment rate and virtually zero job security, he managed through several jobs and took care of his family as much as he could. He was always there for me when I needed his help. He has a wife, two daughters and three grandchildren. When I left the country because of my husband’s job (we are a foreign service family), I always tried to help with as much as we could. When we were overseas and I was lucky to have paid jobs, we would always support them financially. Now, being almost 7000 miles away, I’m a stay-at-home mom and the caretaker of three children of my own. I love my brother and I only want him to get better so that he and his family can spend more time together with each other. As much as I want to support my brother, living on only one income certainly puts a strain. That is why I decided with a heavy heart to appeal to your kind and generous hearts. I humbly request you to consider to donate whatever amount you can allow to help my brother Magiz with his current fight for life. Any support will be greatly appreciated and cherished. Thank you for reading this.