Thirteen-year-old Mark lives in the small taiga village of Lazo in the Primorsky Territory with his parents and younger sister. The boy has a malignant tumor - osteosarcoma of the left thigh, which has eaten away the bone. At the Pediatric Oncology Center in Moscow, where Mark is undergoing his third course of chemotherapy, they are ready to remove the tumor and put in an endoprosthesis, which will save his leg. But the amount allocated by the state for the operation will not be enough to pay for an expensive prosthesis.
In September, Mark was supposed to go to seventh grade. Instead, he ended up in a hospital bed in Moscow, almost eight thousand kilometers from home.
At first, everything seemed not so tragic - a year ago, when Mark began to limp a little, and even last summer, when he broke his left leg while walking. “Never mind, it will grow together,” the boy encouraged his parents.
The fracture was offset. An X-ray was taken at the regional hospital, his leg was plastered and Mark was sent for examination to Nakhodka, to the city hospital. Computed tomography revealed a neoplasm at the site of the fracture. The examination continued in Vladivostok, at the Regional Clinical Center for Specialized Types of Medical Aid. There, the surgeons decided to fasten the parts of the broken bone with a metal plate. However, it did not work: during the operation, the bone literally crumbled - at the site of the fracture, it turned out to be porous and fragile. A bone fragment was sent for biopsy.
When Mark woke up from anesthesia, the first thing he asked the doctor was, "Can I walk now?" But the doctor shook his head: "Not now."
Catherine, Mark's mother, was told a terrible diagnosis: osteosarcoma. The biopsy material found cancer cells that were eating away at the thigh bone.
The doctor explained that the detected tumor is one of the most aggressive. It spreads very quickly to adjacent tissues, growing into muscles and filling the medullary canal. Mark was transferred to the Regional Children's Oncohematological Center in Vladivostok. Tumor tissues were sent to Moscow for research at the Dmitry Rogachev National Medical Research Center for Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology.
In a Moscow laboratory, the diagnosis was confirmed. There was no longer any doubt that the boy's life was in danger. Mark's fate was decided at a council of doctors from federal clinics. They came to a consensus: the boy needs treatment at the federal medical center in Moscow. And in September of this year, Mark and his mother ended up at the Blokhin Cancer Center.
- By that time, from unbearable pain in the leg, the son could not sleep and eat, - says Ekaterina. - Mark bit the pillow so as not to scream, not to disturb other children in the ward. Painkillers were injected constantly, but they did not help for long.
Since the moment of the fracture, the boy has lost 16 kilograms. At the oncology center, Mark was immediately re-examined - the tumor on his thigh increased by several centimeters. The boy was urgently prescribed chemotherapy. The tests were worse than ever, hemoglobin is several times lower than normal, Mark was weakening before our eyes. Five times he received a blood transfusion, after which he revived a little.
- My son's ears turned pink, - says Ekaterina, - he even cheered up and became like the old Mark, only thinner and exhausted.
After the first course of chemotherapy, the pain was relieved.
“Before, Mark was my main assistant,” recalls Ekaterina. - I helped in the garden, pumped water from the well, dragged firewood for the stove, followed the household.
Now Mark is worried that he will not be able to do any of this. And not even able to walk. To cover the distance from the ward to the treatment room, his mother puts an orthosis on his leg, puts him in a wheelchair and drives him. The rest of the time, Mark is in the ward under an IV. According to the protocol, he is undergoing the third course of chemotherapy.
For December, the doctors planned to remove the tumor. During the operation, you will have to remove a part of the left femur and compensate for the defect with a sliding endoprosthesis. This will save the leg and Mark will be able to live and walk.
Pediatric oncologist at the National Medical Research Center of Oncology named after N. N. Blokhin Elmira Senzhapova (Moscow): “Mark will have an organ-preserving operation to remove the osteosarcoma. During the surgical stage of treatment, it is planned to remove the section of the left femur with replacement of the defect with a knee endoprosthesis. The child needs a custom-made sliding endoprosthesis”.
The cost of the endoprosthesis is 2,812,021 rubles. At 17:00 (9.12.2020) 620 Lenta.ru readers collected 545,274 rubles. 50,000 rubles contributed by Advance LLC 591,716 rubles were contributed by FESCO1 054,987 rubles were collected by the readers of rbc.ru and rusfond.ru
570,044 rubles are missing.
Fundraising continues.
Dear friends! If you decide to help Mark Borisenko, do not be confused by the cost of salvation. Any donation will be greatly appreciated.
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