Charitable foundation
for helping children
with cancer

Hello. It has been almost a week since we returned from Israel and almost three weeks after the operation to remove the tumor. During this period, a lot has happened in our life. These 14 days of quarantine in self-isolation without the ability to go out into the yard анали, repeated tests, additional MRI, hospitalization, a four-hour operation, during which it was possible to go crazy, recovery ward, intensive care and hospital, it took us 2 weeks. 2 weeks of painful drugs, droppers, all the analyzes that can be imagined, and this was all accompanied by sleepless nights, crying, screaming and pleading to leave the hospital home. The first smiles, the first food, the first steps, the first words - it was really like the first step and our joy knew no bounds. For us as parents, this is a separate story. EVERYTHING was obvious: anxiety, anxiety, nervous breakdowns, loss of consciousness, tears, tantrums, and so on, you can continue, of course, we did not show this to children, parents or readers. This is ALL already behind and I do not want to remember. There are still worries about Artyom's rehabilitation and a control MRI three months later. In parallel with this, of course, pleasant things took place, the Jewish New Year, Oksana's (mother's) birthday, and the wedding anniversary. There was no noisy celebration, but we will catch up with it in Ukraine. Travel to holy places, new pleasant acquaintances. Regarding the comparison of Israeli medicine, medicines and in general as an industry in general, unfortunately, it is not possible to compare with Ukrainian in general, I do not want to offend anyone, but if you get sick and want to live, then this is not about Ukraine. First of all, I want to thank Artur Andonis for organizing our stay in Israel and at the clinic. Arthur, I have already told you and I will tell you again that you treat your work as your life, you are a person with a huge heart, your experiences, help, care, your positive confident attitude to victory help children and parents not to unstuck and go to the end. Of course, you are a team and only a team can defeat these insidious diseases in children. Professor Shlomi Konstantini is an incredible person and an expert in his field, his experience saves the life of the most precious thing that a person can have - these are children. If he gets down to business, be sure that no one will do better on this planet, unfortunately Konstantini did not learn the Ukrainian language, so he could not tell him about it, my English was "very bad". In addition to these two people, more than a hundred workers were involved in the hospitals to carry out the operation and further rapid recovery of Artyom. Professor Roth, doctors Yura and Denis, you are great. Yura Tsykhivsky special thanks to you for clarification and support. If anyone hesitates and does not know how to act, you can ask for our contacts, we will definitely tell you and help. Yura, you are doing a good deed. Now about friends and other incredible people, you are all incredible. I really can't describe and tag everyone here. Just know, I am grateful to everyone that you have joined in fundraising and supporting my family. This did not happen without you. Have a nice day and positive emotions everyone.

I want to tell our story of treatment. In November, during a routine ultrasound examination, the doctor suspected that son had a rare glomus carotid tumor, a chemodectoma. This pathology occurs 1-2 times per 100 thousand of the population, and statistics say that the average age of patients is 36 years old, and women are more likely to be affected. The tumor is located in the carotid artery's bifurcation zone (its branching into internal and external). Having already glanced at the ultrasound scan, I realized that this is a serious matter. After spending several days on the Internet, having read dozens of medical articles, we understood that the only correct and possible treatment method is surgical removal. The complexity of localization, a bunch of nerves passing in the immediate vicinity, and the tremendous speed of blood flow in the carotid artery are only a small part of the difficulties doctors face when removing such tumors. In my son's case, the neoplasm had already covered about 270o vessels, it was hyper vascularized, and we did not know the extent of its invasion into the artery walls. Then there were 2 months of hell. Nighttime tears, insomnia, looking for treatment options and looking for money for treatment. We are residents of Ukraine, and in this country, in addition to the fact that medicine, well, how can I say it, is not at a very high level, legal conflicts have also arisen with this tumor's operation. The fact is that the son is 16 years old, and legally he is a child, and those doctors in "adult" clinics who have at least some experience of removing such neoplasms cannot operate on him. And those doctors who are legally entitled to provide medical care to children are faced with such a diagnosis for the first time. We searched everywhere, sent letters in all directions. We wrote on television, found a doctor from Brazil, who undertook to help us and called us to Sao Paulo. We contacted the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Oncology and Medical Radiology, named after N.N. Alexandrov in the Republic of Belarus. There the situation turned out to be similar. We were refused due to the child's age. We have consulted in Germany in companies that organize the treatment of foreigners. Prices for treatment in Germany turned out to be significantly higher than Israel's. Besides, medical intermediaries did not show any desire to help (either they were not satisfied with the quality of the translation of our medical documents into German, or the conclusions of Ukrainian doctors are incomprehensible ...). To be honest, while we were looking for a medical institution, a similar search for doctors in Ukraine yielded results, and 2 pretty good neurosurgeons decided to undertake an operation in Ukraine (in Kyiv and Uzhgorod). But the vagueness of tactics and operational plan of the type "cut - we'll see how it goes" clearly did not suit me. Also, the procedure was very vague. So our choice fell on the Mecca of medical tourism - Israel. Yes, the Internet is replete with offers, but my intuition did not disappoint me - my obsession was the desire to treat the child in the Ichilov clinic. Studying the clinic's infrastructure, doctors' resumes, and simple statistical information on the number of operations performed every day strengthened me that we are on the right track. Then there was a tough choice, with which of the intermediaries to cooperate, whether to work directly with the clinic? Which doctors should you trust? Should I agree to preliminary tumor embolization? And again, intuition did not disappoint. We are grateful to God that our curator was Artur Andonis, a man of the highest professional and human qualities. Because Arthur was immediately imbued with our problem, the right strategy was chosen, and our medical documentation fell directly into the hands of the best specialists - masters of their craft: Dr. Tali Yonash and Professor Dan Flees. To assess the professional qualities of these doctors on my part would be a pitiful attempt by an amateur: over the decades of their work, they have an incredible amount of regalia and achievements, and the result of their recognition in the world medical community is a mass of scientific publications and monographs, participation in all kinds of medical organizations and advice. I was amazed at how simple, without pathos and arrogance, they communicated with us, how, with their calm confidence, they instilled confidence in my wife and me, going crazy in anticipation of news from the operating room. Dr. Tali Yonash performed a complex 5-hour operation to embolize the tumor. The process consisted in the fact that a probe was introduced through the inguinal artery, which, under the constant control of auxiliary diagnostic equipment, was moved to the tumor localization area to inject a particular substance into the blood vessels feeding the tumor, which clogged these vessels to avoid the risk of bleeding during surgical rem. The complexity of the work performed by Professor Fleece was to "bypass" all the nerves, to avoid damage to the carotid arteries and other vessels. Which he did brilliantly.I was impressed by the fact that before the operation, the son underwent a Doppler study, and the possible places for obtaining donor vessels of the required diameter were marked on the arms and legs in case of the need for reconstruction of the carotid artery. I really liked the attitude of the medical staff, especially in the children's department and intensive care unit. In general, to be honest, despite the fact that Ichilov is a real clinic, more precisely, a complex of clinics with all the attributes inherent in such an institution, there is absolutely no oppressive hospital atmosphere there. Good Feng Shui or something. Great energy. In the evenings, the piano played in the hall. Excellent work of everyone, it seems that everyone is in their place and everyone is ready for any development of events or emergencies or complications. As for the financial side of the issue - unfortunately, we are not citizens of the richest country, and for most of my fellow citizens, such treatment may seem expensive. But! Of course, I believe that we did the right thing a thousand times by arriving in Ichilov and organizing treatment through Artur Andonis. It is necessary to set the right priorities, you cannot save on the health and lives of relatives, especially when it comes to children. The price-quality ratio of the services provided seemed to me absolutely balanced, it is easier to anticipate a complication than to try to fix an irrecoverable one. And the prices Arthur gave us are even slightly lower than the medical tourism department of the clinic, unbelievable, but true. In addition, due to the earlier discharge from the clinic, we were promised to make a cashback and return to our account a part of the money previously transferred to the clinic. Yes, we transferred the money by swift-transfer to our deposit at the clinic, it is very convenient and safe, the commission is ridiculous 20 USD. Perhaps we would have done this operation in Ukraine, but, as you know, the devil is in the details. And having gone all this way in the choice of treatment and the operation itself, I can say with full responsibility: Shalom to Israel! AND THANKS IKHILOV !!!

Hello, my name is Svetlana D. I am not a verbose person, but I will write a few words about my treatment for Breast Cancer in Israel. Since September 2019, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, histology. Partial removal of the left breast and the appointment of chemotherapy. According to the plan in April 2020, I needed to remove my left breast, but since I am a young woman, I did not want to remain breastless, and I started looking for a center or specialist in breast removal and reconstruction, and immediately, in one fell swoop, but unfortunately in our country such there are no specialists, and if there is, they have little experience. In general, I decided to go to Israel. My husband contacted his acquaintances from Israel, and they helped me come for a consultation at the Rambam hospital with Dr. Avana Judit. To be honest, I did not get the confidence that I wanted, and our friend remembered that his friend works in Ichilov hospitals, Tel Aviv. We contacted Artur Andonis, for which I am very grateful, and only now I understand how important the people who are close by and help in everything are. I want to say a BIG THANKS to you for everything. We were scheduled to consult with Dr. Manes Tehila (mammologist surgeon) and Dr. Arad (plastic surgeon). There was a lot of doubt if the doctors would be able to do the reconstruction right away because of my breast and skin anatomy. I was sure that these doctors would be able to do it, and they did it. After the operation, we received histology, and it was slightly different from all 3-4 responses (there was a revision in 3 other laboratories). In consultation with Dr. Irina Stefansky (Head of the Oncology Department), it was recommended to me irradiation, but this is not a simple matter. The left side is the heart, the implant can shrink, the stitches that can come apart, WHAT TO DO ?? Without thinking for a long time, we began to do irradiation under the direction of Dr. Diana Matsievsky. Fortunately for me, there are practically no side effects. After the irradiation, Dr. Arad started to replenish the implant, and after 3-4 weeks, Dr. Arad gave us an OK to return home, URAAAAAA ……. Here is my story. I hope that it will help someone make the right decision, do not be afraid and trust only trusted people))

The non-profit organization "Lemanam", a group of doctors providing free medical care to Holocaust survivors, with the support of the Ichilov Tel Aviv Medical Center, has established an advanced emergency room in Moldova, on the border with Ukraine for Ukrainian refugees. This morning (March 11), a private plane brought 40 doctors from the Ichilov Medical Center to the border, as well as many volunteers from other Israeli hospitals. The team is accompanied by tons of donated medical equipment, medicines and humanitarian aid. The arrival of the delegation was organized in coordination with high-ranking Moldovan officials and various foreign government agencies. The group of volunteer doctors consists exclusively of Ukrainian-speaking doctors in the fields of psychiatry, pediatrics, emergency medicine, family medicine, orthopedics, anesthesiology, rehabilitation and psychology. They are accompanied by medical clowns, a social worker and logistics specialists. The team will provide a rapid response to emergencies in the refugee camps in the area and, if necessary, can establish a forward operating room on the Moldovan side of the border. They will also support local hospitals that treat refugees in the region. The site of the facility was created during a week-long secret mission by an advance team from the Ichilov Medical Center and Lemanam. The Lehmans are led by Dr. Tamara Kolitz from the Institute of Endocrinology of the Center and Dr. Oz Franco, Dr. Roy Morag and Prof. Idit Matot. The delegation is supported by the governments of Israel and Europe, as well as Israir and Sarel Logistical Solutions.