It always seemed to me that childhood cancer is somewhere very far away. This is something on TV, in advertising blocks, when funds are needed for the treatment of this or that baby and caring citizens send their money via SMS. This is something from a parallel reality, not with me and not with my loved ones
My daughter Nayana has always been in good health. Where others drank antibiotics, lay in bed for a long time, she was sick for a couple of days from strength, quickly getting to her feet. She always loved the cold, dousing, bathing in cool water, colds were extremely rare. In November 2021, a high temperature rose out of the blue, 39.7, while the general state of health was good, nothing bothered, but we decided to call the pediatrician. Deciding that it was most likely a viral infection, the doctor nevertheless advised me to take a general blood test just in case. When the results were ready, she called me back and said that she had not seen such an analysis for several years: some indicators were exceeded by tens and even hundreds of times and she urgently needed to go to the hospital for additional examination. The next day there was a hospitalization in the hospital of our district, from where, after preliminary examinations, on the same day, Nayana was transferred by ambulance to the Morozov Children's City Hospital, saying that only there they would be able to explain to us what was happening with the child and how to treat it. So at the end of November 2021, after a series of computed tomography, ultrasound and blood tests, a biopsy was made, which confirmed the diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma stage 4 with metastases in the lungs and extensive lymphadenopathy of almost all groups of lymph nodes and an enlarged spleen, on a series of PET / CT scans even shone Bone marrow. The diagnosis shocked us, relatives. Everything swam before my eyes, life lost its colors. After all, outwardly nothing foreshadowed trouble, Nayana led an active lifestyle and studied well at school. Well, she had neither weakness, nor sweating, nor rapid weight loss, all this was clearly manifested later, right before the start of the first course of chemotherapy.
I fell into a feeling of total guilt that I overlooked, did not recognize. I am very grateful to Nayana's doctors, sensitive, experienced oncologists, who patiently explained to me that these feelings of guilt and despair are common to all parents who are faced with childhood oncology and that science still does not know why a pathological process starts in a cell and self-destruction begins, that you just have to accept it, experience it and start fighting.
Fortunately, it turned out that this type of lymphoma is curable in 80% of cases, even at stage 4, much depends on the body's immune response to treatment. Ahead was the maximum number of chemotherapy courses for Hodgkin's lymphoma in children - 6 full blocks and then radiation therapy. Of course, no one gave guarantees, and all the months of treatment I continued to be in suspense, prayed and believed that we would manage.
My brave girl endured trials very steadfastly. And there were many. Having learned about her diagnosis, she asked me calmly: “Mom, will I die?”, And I answered her then that we would fight and that the chances of a cure were very high.
We have seen everything in a year of chemoradiotherapy: many complications, side effects from drugs and malfunctions of the immune system. Nayana steadfastly endured all the suffering, discovering in herself a source of creativity, which nourished us very much and gave us relief when we were forced to lie in different departments of the MDCH for a long time with blood complications, abscesses, or with the consequences of convulsions during treatment. She learned how to sew funny toys, and so skillfully that my needlewomen friends were amazed that this was done by hand by a child of 11 years old. So many doctors and some patients in our chemotherapy department received lovingly made cats as gifts, each of which had some kind of encouraging cute phrase on it.
