Varya Shestakova from the city of Artem, Primorsky Territory, practically lives under a dropper in the Children's City Clinical Hospital (DGKB) 13 named after N. F. Filatov in Moscow. The girl was born with a severe malformation of the intestine; after three operations, only 12 centimeters of her small intestine remained - this is a tenth of its normal length. The body does not assimilate normal food, so Vare has been installed a port for intravenous administration, through which substances necessary for life are supplied around the clock. To survive until the operation and gain strength, you need constant intravenous nutrition.
Vara was diagnosed with intestinal atresia in utero, when Dina's mother-to-be was undergoing a scheduled ultrasound scan. The picture showed that the loops of the child's small intestine were noticeably expanded. The doctor explained that this is what the bowel obstruction looks like. “Don't be alarmed,” she reassured, “now children are undergoing surgery after birth, and the intestines are working normally.”
- My husband and I wanted to name our daughter Yesenia, - says Dina. - They imagined that a girl with that name would be gentle and affectionate. And when they found out the diagnosis, they decided to call her Barbara.
Varya was born at 11 hours 10 minutes. Two hours later, she was transported to a children's hospital in Vladivostok in a specialized catastrophe medicine machine, and at 5 pm she was operated on - the dead tissue of the small intestine was removed and two stomas were taken out - for nutrition and cleansing.
- The first operation was followed by the second, then the third, - recalls Dina. - But the intestines still did not work.
Varya constantly vomited. The tube feeding was not absorbed, and the girl was transferred to intravenous feeding.
Doctors suspected Hirschsprung's disease - a disorder of intestinal development, leading to obstruction. A biopsy was taken from the child for analysis and sent to Moscow, but there was no response.
Varya spent two and a half months in intensive care. Parents were allowed to visit her for only an hour.
Dina, on the recommendation of doctors she knew, found the contacts of Yelena Andreevna Kostomarova, a gastroenterologist at the Filatov hospital, and sent her Varya's extracts. The answer came the next day: "Come to hospital." For Varya's parents, this was the last hope.
On the way, the doctors gave out two pumps with a nutrient solution. Resuscitators refused to fly so far. The girl slept throughout the eight-hour flight, and only at the end began to cry. When she was brought to the hospital, it turned out that not a single drop of the nutrient solution had entered the child's body during all the time - the pumps remained full. Before the flight, the nurse forgot to open the dropper cap, and asked the parents not to touch anything.
Hungry Varya was immediately taken to the intensive care unit, fed and fed, then all the necessary tests were done. Hirschsprung's disease was not confirmed.
On December 9, the girl was placed an indwelling catheter for intravenous feeding and taken out a gastrostomy tube. And more recently, they began to feed with a mixture from a bottle, a teaspoon every three hours.
- The mixture is bitter, like wormwood, because it contains split proteins, - says Dina, - but Varya swallows it with great appetite. When the portion runs out, she cries and asks for more. But more is not yet possible.
A doctor from the Filatov hospital explained that Varya had a "dead end" in her intestines. After the operation, the small intestine, shortened by ten times, was stretched, and the non-functioning colon, on the contrary, narrowed and prevented the elimination of "waste" in a natural way. For this, a gastrostomy tube is used.
Varya loves walking most of all. Mom dresses her warmly, wraps her in a blanket and opens the window. For forty minutes Varya sleeps blissfully in the fresh air.
In order for Varya to get home, to get stronger, to grow up - and just be able to live up to the operation, she needs special equipment and parenteral (intravenous) nutrition. In the hospital, the girl was provided for them, and after discharge, the parents should buy food. A six-month supply costs about one and a half million rubles. Varya's parents are not able to collect such a sum. They need help.
Gastroenterologist of the Children's City Clinical Hospital named after N. F. Filatova Elena Kostomarova (Moscow): “Varya was born with a malformation of the intestine - high atresia of the small intestine. The girl has already undergone three operations, but in the future she will have another one - a surgical reconstruction of the intestine. Now Varya is growing and developing only due to nutrition, which is injected intravenously. In order for the girl to survive and grow stronger for the upcoming radical operation, which is planned to be carried out at the age of one to one and a half years, she needs intravenous nutrition."
The cost of intravenous nutrition for six months is 1,479,251 rubles.
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