17.09.2009 Fundraising for the benefit of Vadim Gritchin and Nadezhda Kobza has been completed.
Thanks to Sergei's donation, graft harvesting for Vadim Gritchin has been paid for. The transplantation will take place at the Bone Marrow Transplantation Clinic, St. Petersburg Medical University. We are grateful to everybody who has helped these kids. Let us wish them good luck!

14.09.2009 The entire sum required to buy the electric power generator for the new rehabilitation center has been raised! We whole-heartedly thank Natalia and Elena, who have provided the required sum.

13.09.2009 We are removing the story of Irina Bass from the first page of our site. We paid for her therapy in Germany in advance, and subsequently your donations covered most of this sum. Unfortunately, we have received no news from Irina's parents since then. Thank you for your aid and compassion!

12.09.2008 The total amount of charitable help provided to the hospital in August 2009 through the Regional Public Charity Foundation for Seriously ill and Abandoned Children was 1,093.573.95 roubles ($34,175). Continued...

10.09.2009 The total amount of charitable help provided to the hospital in July 2009 through the Regional Public Charity Foundation for Seriously ill and Abandoned Children was 1,238,567.95 roubles ($39,340). Continued...

9.09.2009 Hospital life consists of stories with happy and sad endings. Fortunately, most endings are happy: children recover and return to their normal life. Sometimes we just cannot recognize our former patients when they visit us. This is just what happened this time.
Alexei Sitnikov was admitted to hospital in the autumn of 2008 in extremely grave condition. He was treated by immunologists and gastroenterologists.
We didn't ask you to help Alexey via this Web site, because the drugs were needed urgently, and all necessary medications and appliances were bought using the sum raised "for all children".
But now Alexei visited us together with his mother. Of course, we recognized her. But we could not believe that this handsome boy was the very kid who had needed our help several months earlier. A smart boy, extremely successful in school studies, and a real gentleman!

3.09.2009 Zhenya Bakanova suddenly died on September 2. Multiple congenital malformations required constant treatment since the first days of the girl's life. She had to undergo numerous surgeries. And there was heart failure...

3.09.2009 On September 1, children at the hospital celebrated the first school day after the summer vacations. Pop singers Yulia Mikhalchik and Eugene Anegin came to congratulate the kids, who were happy to participate in dancing and singing. See photographs and slideshow.

1.09.2009 An exhibition of horse sketches took place at the Sokolniki Exhibition Center on August 19 to 23, 2009. Patients of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital also took part in it. Their drawings did not win the main prizes but still impressed many visitors of the exhibition, and the children received several awards.

27.08.2009 We thank our old friend Alexander, who has provided the compete sum to perform the search for an unrelated donor for Vadim Gritchin. The search in the Stefan Morsch international register of hematopoietic stem cells costs 5000 euro. About 9000 euro is still required for future graft harvesting.

26.08.2009 Artem Miroshin, a former patient of the Department of Oncohematology-16, arrived for a check-up. In 2005, Artem (three years old at the time) was admitted to the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital with a terrible diagnosis: neuroblastoma. He spent over a year in his hospital ward and went through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, kidney removal, bone marrow autotransplantation. Fortunately, presently he is just a merry and active child, feeling fine. He will go to school in September. Just compare his photographs taken now and in 2006...

25.08.2009 Some news about orphan patients of our hospital.
Presently 18 orphans receive treatment at the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital or at the new rehabilitation center within the You Are Not Alone program. Eleven nurses hired by our foundation are taking care of them.
Little Zhenya P. has celebrated his first birthday. See his new photograph here. He has grown up a great deal and gained weight.
Masha S. is recovering from the surgical intervention. She is presently at the new rehabilitation center of our hospital. Veronika P. will also go there tomorrow to prepare for her next operation on skull bones (a distraction appliance will be set).
Our Tanya, a nice girl so interested in drawing and needlework, has left the hospital after 1.5 years spent there. She has undergone kidney transplantation, and now the results of her tests are all right. She will come for a check-up in three months.
Five orphans have arrived at the hospital. Three of them have come here for the first time: Valera T. (8 years old, Belgorod region), Andrei Sh. (14 years old, Lipetsk region), and Dasha M. (8 years old, Chelyabinsk region).
Our "old" patients Sasha Ch. and Katya M-va have arrived for follow-up treatment. Sasha will undergo the next reconstructive operation at the Department of Microvascular Surgery, and Katya will have another course of maintenance therapy at the Department of Nephrology.

Zhenya P.	Masha S.	Tanya S.	Valera T.	Andrei Sh.	Dasha M.	Sasha Ch.	Katya M-va

24.08.2009 Our new rehabilitation center urgently needs aid. It already hosts six orphan patients with nurses and six other children who are presently undergoing out-patient treatment at the Departments of Oncology and Oncohematology. Unfortunately, it turned out that the supply of electricity to the settlement where this center is located is sometimes interrupted (although the local administration had denied the existence of this problem!). But the water supply system, the heating system, and all medical appliances at this center depend on electricity. It means that an autonomous electric power generator should be purchased as soon as possible before the weather becomes cold. This generator costs about 500,000 roubles ($15,875). Financial help for purchase of this generator is urgently needed!

5.08.2009 We have completed the fundraising for the benefit of Olga Shchekina. Olya and her mother have already left for Germany. We thank all who have responded.

1.08.2009 Deputy Head Physician of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital A.A. Bologov and Head of the Department of Kidney Transplantation A.L. Valov have added four more children to the list of patients who have undergone kidney transplantations and now urgently need Valcyte. They are Alexander Voloshin, Artem Shchelchkov, Artem Arkhipov, and Valya Levina.

30.07.2009 We thank the managers of Media Service VI, who regularly provide serious support for patients of our hospital. This time they again supplied Pampers diapers and other hygienic goods worth a total of 1,395,010 roubles ($44,285).

29.07.2009 A new patient of the Department of Psychoneurology and Epilepsy Edem Bekmambetov needs help in paying for the diagnostic DNA examination. Three other patients of this department (we have told about them before) also need financial aid. They are Rodion Volkov, Idris Galimullin, and Polina Govorova.

23.07.2009 We have completed the fundraising for the benefit of Oleg Batashev. The invoice for the surgical intervention has been paid. The total sum for the future MRI examination has also been raised. Thank you for helping the boy so quickly!

21.07.2009 Physician Yulia Averyanova tells about the condition and treatment of orphan patient Zhenya P.:
"Zhenya has already got used to the hospital department. He has undergone many ordeals: his parents left him, then he had two surgical operations on his intestines, then treatment at various hospitals. However, we are happy to see that the kid does not give up. Your Foundation has found him a nurse, who has been providing round-the-clock care for him for three months. During this time, the boy's condition has improved a great deal. He has gained some weight and undergone another surgery with a fine result. Now it is time for rehabilitation. The Foundation, the staff of our department, and also kind and compassionate people support the boy all the time. But nothing can be equal to family care. We sincerely hope that Zhenya will yet find a family that would take him and raise as their own child."

20.07.2009 Deputy Head Physician of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital A.A. Bologov and Head of the Department of Kidney Transplantation A.L. Valov are asking for urgent help. Eight patients of this department after kidney transplantations need Valcyte. They are Rita Vishvenko, Valeria Shakhova, Ivan Mishchenko, Kostya Karsanov, Nastya Fedotova, Tanya Kurepina, Katya Rais, and Vasili Neustroev. The children need this drug for prevention and treatment of CMV infection. One pack costs 67,000 roubles, and a total of 10 packs is needed (about $21,600).

19.07.2009 We are completing the fundraising for the benefit of four patients: Yulia Zainetdinova, Alexei Kotov, Tanya Zhovtonoga, and Katya Yudina (the fundraising for the last two girls has only been interrupted for the time being, because they will yet need our help in future for follow-up therapy). We whole-heartedly thank all who paid attention to these children's problems!

12.07.2009 In May and June 2009, the total sum raised for the hospital patients through the Regional Public Charity Foundation for Seriously ill and Abandoned Children amounted to 2,810,895.80 roubles (about $89,235). The sum transferred from the bank account of the Foundation was 2,255,872.00 roubles ($71,615), and 555,023.80 roubles ($17,620) was directly provided by private persons. Continued...

10.07.2009 The first inhabitants of the new rehabilitation center for orphan patients have already got used to it. Recently they were visited by children who live at the House of Hope, another center supported by our foundation. One of the first inhabitants of the new center is Denis. Thanks to your help, he has a wheelchair now and can "go out" by himself.

7.07.2009 The fundraising for Yura Ponomarev is over. At last the whole sum required to pay for unrelated donor search and graft harvesting has been raised. Many thanks to everybody!
Yura is recovering after his bone marrow transplantation, which took place at the end of April. The boy has been allowed to leave hospital and begin out-patient treatment. Unfortunately, the boy has infectious problems now, and his blood counts have become worse. The physicians are presently deciding on the tactics of his further treatment.

29.06.2009 German has instantly responded to our plea to help Alexandra Gorobets. Thanks to his large donation, the girl has been provided with the amount of the necessary drug sufficient for seven-month treatment. We are whole-heartedly grateful to German. So far the fundraising for Alexandra's benefit has been interrupted, but we can resume it if necessary. Let us wish her cope with her grave disease. Let all her dreams come true!

27.06.2009 Dr. Elena S. Ilyina, Head of the Department of Psychoneurology-2, has asked to our help in paying for diagnostic DNA examinations of three patients of this department: Rodion Volkov, Idris Galimullin, and Polina Govorova. All these children are from poor families, and their parents cannot pay for the necessary expensive tests.

24.06.2009 Good news about Stanislav Brynza: he has been discharged from hospital and allowed to go home. Now he will come here only for check-ups. The endoprosthesis is very comfortable. The boy walks without difficulty, and the main thing is that this "artificial bone" will grow together with the rest of the body. Therefore, no further operations are expected. Let us wish good luck to this courageous and optimistic boy!

The first children came to the new rehabilitation center for orphan patients. They are Denis, Tanya, Milena, and Eva. Soon Ilya will join them.

16.06.2009 Tragic news from Almetyevsk in the Republic of Tatarstan: Anton Safonov died. He had to undergo the second bone marrow transplantation, but less than a year passed - and the disease relapsed again. There was nothing medicine could do with it. And Anton went home with his mother in May...

5.06.2009 Vitalik Sotnikov is back from Germany after a surgical operation. The boy and his mother are more than satisfied with the results of the treatment.

4.06.2009 During this week, we completed the fundraising for three children. First, we have paid for cultivation of neural growth factor for Sergei Borovkov. We thank N.V. Ivanova, who donated money specially for Sergei!
However, Collost for the boy is still to be bought.

Money to buy Mimpara for Alexander Voloshin has been raised.
Dasha Kalmykova went home after a course of Mabtera.
Dear friends, thank you very much for your help!

24.05.2009 Our exhibition in Sokolniki.
See photos on the Web site of the Ss. Cosmas and Damian Church in Moscow.
An experienced volunteer of the Help Group, composer Vladimir Shishkarev, is telling:
"The exhibition opened in Sokolniki is an important stage in the work of the Help Group, which was organized by Alexander Men and then headed by the late priest Gregory Chistyakov.
At last the art works by our talented children are shown in a lovely exhibition hall, amidst a lot of light anf air, rare photographs and the children's beloved faces. This atmosphere, so full of life, almost impossible to leave. It was a real celebration, a synthesis of arts, including painting, cinema, and literature. A book by Lyudmila Ulitskaya about our hospital was presented... such a pity that all copies have already been sold. There was a film by Irina Bessarabova, who managed to look into the very heart of the hospital.
Then our children arrived, and miracles began. Together with adults, they let tropical butterflies into the air, and made their common wish: to recover! [...]"

The exhibition was closed on Sunday, May 24, 2009.

20.05.2009 Today a retrospective exhibition of drawings by young patients of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital was opened at the Sokolniki Exhibition Center. At the opening ceremony, we also celebrated the 20th "birthday" of the Alexander Men Help and Charity Service working at the hospital.
The ceremony included presentation of documentary book Having Got into a Hospital (Chelovek popal v bol'nitsu) by Lyudmila Ulitskaya. The book tells about the history and present-day life of the Help Group. There was also a presentation of film God is Crying (Bog plachet) by Irina Bessarabova. This film, created in memory of Father Georgy Chistyakov, tells about his work at the hospital.
Photos by Alexander Kremlev.
Video.

We are whole-heartedly grateful to International Exhibition Company MVK and personally to its president Andrei V. Lapshin for wonderful organization of this exhibition, for regular help and cooperation.

* * *

We got tragic news today: Vika Slobodyan and Kristina Reznik died. Vika's tumor resisted all existing therapies. Kristina, a former patient of our hospital and a gifted painter, had been suffering from cystic fibrosis since birth.
We'll always remember our dear girls. God save their souls.

17.05.2009 In April 2009, the total volume of charitable help received by the hospital through the Regional Public Charity Foundation for Seriously ill and Abandoned Children was 3,106,251.68 roubles ($92,724). Private persons and organizations provided direct help to patients and departments of the hospital for a total of 613,200 roubles ($18,405). Continued...

16.05.2009 Some news about orphan patients of our hospital.
Presently there are 19 orphans at the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital. 12 of them receive care from 10 hired nurses.
Three children were operated last week. After a year of waiting, Tanya S. has had transplantation of donor kidney. The girl is very courageous and optimistic!
Little Zhenya P. and Dima Zh. had their operations on the same day. Both are feeling fine.
Two children have been admitted to hospital. Masha S. from Kursk (2.5 years old) is at the Department of Traumatology; it is her first visit to our hospital. And Dima B. (11 years old) from Dmitrov, a town in Moscow region, will undergo follow-up treatment at the Department of Urology. Two years ago, Dima came to our hospital right after he had been taken to the orphanage. He was almost ten years old at the time, and he couldn't even read. Now he is in his second school year, reads and writes quite well. His intellectual development has become much better in general. We are happy to thank the staff of the Dmitrov orphanage for this care and attention to children.
 

13.05.2009 The parents of Serezha Shapoval recently visited Moscow. They told us that the boy is feeling just fine and showed us his photographs:

8.05.2009 Sad news from the Department of Abdominal Surgery: Tanya Egorova died. After the next cycle of chemotherapy, she had a fulminant septic process...

4.05.2009 Yura Ponomarev underwent unrelated bone marrow transplantation on April 24. So far everything is more or less all right, but the first information about the actual results of the surgery will be known at least two weeks later. The sum required for graft harvesting has not yet been raised for Yura, and the boy's page on our Web site will be active until all financial accounts with the international register of hematopoietic stem cell donors are completed.
Another child with Hurler's syndrome, Katya Gordeeva, was to have her transplantation in May. However, it turned out that the potential donor has medical contraindications, and therefore the transplantation will have to be postponed until a new donor is found.

2.05.2009 Our old friend Vitalik Sotnikov left for Germany again with his mother on April 23. He will soon have his seventh surgery at the Munich clinic. The surgeons are satisfied with the results of earlier treatment and promise that this time Vitalik will go home without a mask at last. We thank Sergei, who financially supports Vitalik; he has paid for this stage of treatment, too.

29.04.2009 We are completing the fundraising for Zhenya P. The sum transferred from SEABROOK LIMITED ($5500) is sufficient to buy the necessary medications for the next three months. We thank all who have responded and helped the boy!

28.04.2009 In March 2009, the total volume of charitable help received by the hospital through the Regional Public Charity Foundation for Seriously ill and Abandoned Children was 3,907,211.35 roubles ($111,635). Private persons and organizations provided direct help to patients and departments of the hospital for a total of 1,936,429.2 roubles ($55,327). Continued...

25.04.2009 Some news about orphan patients who get treatment at our hospital within the You Are Not Alone program.
Our old friend Milena L-na from Yakutia has again appeared at the Department of Microvascular Surgery for surgical treatment. The girl is glad to see Moscow and her hospital friends again.
Two children from Shuya have also arrived for surgical treatment. Denis K. was operated last year at the Department of Traumatology, and now he will undergo another operation at the Department of Microvascular Surgery. And Yulia G. has arrived at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery. She was especially glad to get photographed with the famous animal trainers brothers Zapashny.

The girl has already been operated and will soon go to the House of Hope cottage. And Galya B. has just left it after the postoperative rehabilition and gone home. Polina Kh. from the Department of Neurosurgery has also been discharged after the next stage of treatment.
Little Eva Z. had her third birthday on April 21. Clown Kostya organized a real celebration and gave Eva a talking doll as a present. Now Eva shows this gift to everybody and happily tells about her new "friend."
And a few words about another orphan at our hospital: Tanya S. She has been living at the Department of Kidney Transplantation since February 2008. She regularly receives dialysis and waits for a matching donor kidney. Nobody knows how long she will yet have to wait. However, Tanya is not depressed or bored. She is always ready to learn something new and interesting. She visits all art classes that our volunteers organize at the hospital church. When we were selecting the children's drawings and handiwork for the exhibition that is to take place at the end of May, it turned out that nearly one-half of works made during the last season are Tanya's. Besides, the girl reads a lot. This is largely due to Margarita, the nurse from Tanya's orphanage who takes care of the girl. This quiet and kind, yet exacting, woman has become a real mother for Tanya, and the girl even calls her 'mummy'. They come to our church together. When Tanya gets some tasty thing as a treat, she always asks, "Mummy, may I eat it now? OK, will I be allowed to eat it later?"

Presently 18 orphan children undergo their treatment at the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital within the You Are Not Alone program. Nine nurses take care of them. For information about orphans who are presently at our hospital, see here.

24.04.2009 Last, week, famous animal trainers Edgar and Askold Zapashny visited the patients of our hospital at the Departments of Clinical Immunology, Microvascular Surgery, Maxillofacial Surgery, Otolaryngology, Ophthalmology, and Oncohematology-27. There were four hours of interesting conversations; there were also chocolates for everybody and books for smaller children. Unfortunately, the next day we heard the sad news about an accident with Edgar: he gravely injured both arms and has to undergo urgent surgical treatment in Moscow and then in Germany. When the children from the Department of Oncohematology-27 learned about this sad accident, they wrote a touching letter to Edgar, sent their drawings to him, and wished him fast and complete recovery.

23.04.2009 In February 2009, the total volume of charitable help received by the hospital through the Regional Public Charity Foundation for Seriously ill and Abandoned Children was 2,976,343.09 roubles ($88,850). Private persons and organizations provided direct help to patients and departments of the hospital for a total of 94,280 roubles ($2820). Continued...

22.04.2009 We are completing the fundraising for the benefit of Nastya Kravchenko, Vika Pudovkina, Vasya Ryabkov, and Ilya K.. Many thanks for your kindness and help!

21.04.2009 Our foundation has received a letter of thanks from Olga, the mother of Masha Tseberyaboi. Masha was first admitted to our hospital with leukemia in July 2000. Presently the girl is getting examined at our hospital and living in the House of Hope cottage.

10.04.2009 We are completing the fundraising for the benefit of Sergei Safiullin. The kid is presently at the Department of Marrow Transplantation, recovering after his BMT. The transplantation was to be performed without delay, and therefore the system for graft purification was purchased on credit. We thank everybody who has responded and helped in raising the entire sum required for the kid's treatment.

8.09.2009 The hospital administration has asked us to help in purchase of four mobile X-ray systems for fast X-ray examinations of gravely ill patients with serious surgical, oncological, and hematological conditions. Their transportation to the all-hospital X-ray department may be highly undesirable, since it is often hazardous for their health.
The total cost of these systems is about 1,000,000 roubles ($30,000).

* * *

We are completing the fundraising for the benefit of Katya Gordeeva. We thank all who have responded and personally Sergei Bogdanov, who yesterday donated the remaining 125,000 roubles ($3750).

Dear friends, we are glad to tell that the construction of the rehabilitation center for orphan patients has been completed. Now it is only necessary to finish the works in the surrounding territory. By the beginning of May, the center will be ready to host the first children, and seven orphans are already getting prepared for moving there. They are Galya B., Eva Z., Ilya K., Milena L-na, Masha K., Pasha T-v, and Katya M-va.

7.04.2009 We have received sad news from the Panikhin family: Vanya Panikhin died. We hope that God will support the boy's parents and give them strength and courage in their grief...

6.04.2009 Six-month-old orphan boy Dima Zh. has been admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery.
Yesterday Katya N. arrived at the Department of Neurosurgery for a follow-up consultation. The physicians say that the remote results of the surgery are moderately fine. However, unfortunately, it is impossible to eliminate the congenital anomaly and its consequences completely.

1.04.2009 Polina Kh. has arrived at the Department of Neurosurgery for follow-up treatment. The doctors have noticed improvement in her condition. Polina will turn three in June. This charming, smart, sociable girl is just like healthy children of her age. But she cannot run with them on her legs, and so she quickly rolls in her wheelchair, turning its huge wheels with her hands.

30.03.2009 A few words about pleasant events that took place during the last months.
Well-known pop singer Sergei Lazarev visited children from the Departments of Immunology and Oncohematology. See photographs.

On March 24, the Theater of Kind Fairy Tales arrived at the hospital. The actors brought a musical show The Pig Boy after Andersen's tale. Both children and their parents were simply amazed. We hope that this friendship with the theater will continue and the kids will be able to see new performances as well. See photographs.

And in the last days of winter, children from the Department of Oncohematology visited the Technical Museum. The children saw a lot of unique car and plane models of past times, climbed into a real airplane of WWII time, and received a lot of photographs. See photographs.

24.03.2009 Our foundation has received a letter of thanks from the administration of the orphanage in Altai krai where Maxim Kh. lives. The administration thanks our foundation and the hospital for financial help and treatment provided to the boy.

21.03.2009 Some news about orphan patients of our hospital.
Yulia K. was discharged after a medical examination. Just as ever, she didn't want to part with us. She was given a large bag of presents.
Anna O. was discharged after a surgical operation in fine condition. She is to arrive for follow-up treatment in several months.
Tanya K., 16 years old, from Kaliningrad, has been admitted to the Department of Traumatology. This smart and serious girl receives only excellent grades at school. She is going to enter a college after her 9th school year.
A new patient of the Abdominal Department is Zhenya P., 7 months old, from Ivanovo. The kid weighs only 4 kg. Our nurse Olya takes care of him. This child was left by his mother at the maternity hospital, and now he has virtually no clothes, for home or for being outside. We hope that our friends will help him.

19.03.2009 Bone marrow donors have been found for Yura Ponomarev and Katya Gordeeva. Yura's transplantation is planned for the end of April; Katya's is likely to take place in May.

Presently a total of 512,500 roubles have been raised for Katya. Given the euro/rouble rate in September, this sum (about 15,000 euro) would be sufficient to search for an unrelated donor and to pay for graft harvesting. However, since the euro/rouble rate has changed a great deal during the economic crisis, 200,000 roubles more (about $5950, or 4400 euro) is needed. We have to resume fundraising for the benefit of Katya Gordeeva.

* * *

Kirill Sh. has arrived for follow-up treatment. He had a surgical operation today, and he is going to his orphanage on Monday, March 22. The amount of Roferon A worth 91,800 roubles ($2740) has been bought for the next four months of medicinal therapy.

18.03.2009 Kristina Kobzeva is back from Germany. She has recovered from the surgical operation. She is feeling fine, and the physicians in Germany are satisfied with the results of her treatment at the present moment. Kristina's parents thank all people who have helped.

15.03.2009 Some news about orphan patients of our hospital.
Vladik Sh. has been discharged after the surgery and rehabilitation. The physicians are more than satisfied with his condition.
Igor D. has returned to his orphanage after all the examinations. Fortunately, the boy was found to have no serious problems with his health.
Pasha T-v has at last arrived for follow-up treatment (his arrival had been postponed several times because of infections at his orphanage). This time our surgeons will work on his hands and perform final separation of his fingers (the first stage was over a year ago). Pasha has grown up a great deal. It is evident that teachers at his orphanage pay a lot of attention to his education.

13.03.2009 We are completing the fundraising for the benefit of Dima Baranchikov and Eva Z. Thank you very much for your prompt response and help to these little kids!

12.03.2009 We have sad news again. Anton Drobov died yesterday. He courageously struggled against his disease, patiently and carefully fulfilled all the doctor's recommendations. This way he got an extra year of life, which was filled not only with medical manipulations.
Anton was a loving and dearly loved son, a good and grateful friend, who truly understood the value of friendship. He read a lot, studied and thought. He never felt bored: life is so wonderful and interesting!
Rest in peace, Anton.
Dear readers, please pray for the boy's grieving mother. Her name is Natalia.

And other losses. During the last few months, several children died: Ira Psakina, Maxim Zolotov, and Usman Metrishev. Ira and Maxim were both extremely gravely ill, and the prognosis of their diseases was not too favorable from the very beginning. And Usman, alas, died of an infectious complication, for which he could not receive adequate medical help at his place of residence.

25.02.2009 Some news about orphan patients of our hospital.
Anna S. has been discharged after a check-up. Galya B. has undergone her operation at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery.
Katya M. was admitted for follow-up therapy at the Department of Nephrology; Yulia K., for a check-up after an operation.

24.02.2009 Our old friend Andrei Trofimov visited us today. He came to the hospital for a check-up, and, fortunately, he is fine. This spring he will graduate from school and enter an institute to study law. It is impossible to guess that he has a leg prosthesis: he walks quickly and energetically, and his limp is almost unnoticeable.

19.02.2009 Some news about orphan patients of our hospital.
Kolya V. has been discharged after treatment at the Department of Ophthalmology with detailed recommendations on follow-up treatment at the place of residence.
After the final laboratory check-up, Vera Sh. was discharged.
Little Anya O. has been transferred from the Department of Urology to the Department of Coloproctology and operated.
A new patient of the Department of Psychoneurology is Igor D. (22 months old) from the Moscow region.

18.02.2009 Stas Brynza has undergone his endoprosthetic surgery. It was successful, and he is learning to walk now. We thank those who helped in paying for the endoprosthesis. Without this help, the operation would be impossible!

13.02.2009 Some news about orphan patients of our hospital.
Lyuda B. and little Nastya D. have been discharged. Lyuda has undergone her follow-up surgery, and now she will be back at our hospital in a year. Fortunately, Nastya needed a minor surgery; she has already recovered, and now she can receive out-patient treatment at her place of residence. And our charming mischievous red-haired Valya will soon see real changes in her life: she is going to France with her new father and mother! We are glad to congratulate this girl and her parents.

10.02.2009 In January 2009, the total volume of charitable help received by the hospital through the Regional Public Charity Foundation for Seriously ill and Abandoned Children was 703,058.5 roubles ($19,530). The total sum transferred from the account of the foundation was 609,423.5 roubles ($16,930). Private persons and organizations provided direct help to patients and departments of the hospital for a total of 93,635 roubles ($2601). Continued...

8.02.2009 We are publishing the financial report of our foundation for 2008.
During the last year, the Regional Public Charity Foundation for Seriously ill and Abandoned Children provided help for a total of 55,800,000 roubles (about $2,000,000) to the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital, to its departments, to patients and their parents. Help was provided within several programs and directions: purchase of equipment, consumables, medications, and rehabilitation appliances; support for unrelated marrow transplantation program; payment for medical services to the hospital patients at other institutions, including those in foreign countries; support of orphan patients within the You Are Not Alone program, etc. Continued...

6.02.2009 A new patient of the Department of Ophthalmology is Kolya V. from Obninsk (Kaluga region), a shy and charming boy of sixteen.

5.02.2009 We have some news about Kristina Kobzeva. She went to Germany with her father on January 26, and yesterday we learned that Kristina has already had her operation, which lasted six hours and was successful. We wish this girl to recover after this difficult surgery as soon as possible.

* * *

We have completed the fundraising for the benefit of Natasha Chernobrova and Alexei Fedotov. The required sums have been raised. Thank you for your help!

2.02.2009 We have completed the fundraising to order an endoprosthesis for Stas Brynza. The required sum has been raised completely. Many thanks to Anastasia and other people for responding!

* * *

Some news about orphan patients of our hospital.
Two children have been discharged: Artem G. (after an examination, which showed that the boy is all right) and Inna N., who spent 4 months at the hospital after a difficult surgery. We have become good friends with Inna, and it was a pity to part with her. But we are glad that Inna will be fine.
Vladik Sh. has been discharged from hospital, but he cannot return to his orphanage, because he needs a lot of care and attention after his difficult operation. Even minor injuries can be dangerous, and they cannot be avoided at an orphanage. So Vladik is presently undergoing rehabilitation at our House of Hope cottage.
Other children have been admitted: Vera Sh. for follow-up treatment and two new girls: Anna O. and Anna S.

And the best piece of news: Maxim Z. has a new family now! He is to be officially adopted very soon.

31.01.2009 Vadim Markunin and Sasha Laktionov have arrived at the hospital for a check-up. They are looking and feeling fine. Vadim will get go to school this autumn, and Sasha is graduating from school and getting prepared for enrollment to an institute.

30.01.2009 We are completing the fundraising for the benefit of Kirill Kornienko. Three packs of Baraclude have been bought for the boy. Kirill's mother whole-heartedly thanks everybody who has responded and helped. "This drug has helped my son a lot and lead to positive results in his treatmnent. We are grateful to all compassionate people who are willing to save our children and to members of the charitable foundation for their difficult and unselfish work!"

27.01.2009 Our beloved friend Kirill Fedechkin died. Half a year ago, German physicians did all they could to help the boy, but it proved impossible to stop the tumor process. Kirill returned for palliative therapy.
During the many months of his treatment at our hospital, we got to like Kirill very much. He was quite grown-up: 17 years old. Smart and serious, thinking and understanding. A loving son, just a kind boy. A guitar player and singer.
He phoned us a week before his death. And he kept repeating, "I love all of you!"
Kirill's mother Nadezhda asks everybody to pray for his soul.

21.01.2009 Some news about orphan patients of our hospital.
Two children have left the hospital. Veronika P. was discharged after a difficult operation on her skull bones. The head physician of her orphanage was amazed by the professional skill of our surgeons and by the results of their work.
Valya V. was discharged after an examination at the Department of Coloproctology. The diagnosis was not so serious as expected earlier, and our doctors just gave recommendations on further treatment, which can be performed by physicians at the boy's place of residence.
Four children have been admitted to the hospital; three of them for follow-up treatment. Lyuda B. from Ulan-Ude arrived at the Department of Microvascular Surgery for the next stage of surgical treatment. A nurse hired by our foundation takes care of the girl.
Artem G. from the Kursk region came for a check-up at the Department of Urology.
Galya B. from the Vladimir region arrived for an operation at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery.
A tiny new girl has arrived at the Department of Neurosurgery. Nastya D., two months old, is from Mytishchi (a town near Moscow). She weighs only 2 kg. In spite of this low weight, the doctors decided that it would be undesirable to postpone surgical intervention, because an operation would allow her to grow and develop like any normal child. Successful surgery has already taken place. We will be able to photograph the kid after she returns to her hospital department and recovers a little after the operation.

20.01.2009 In December 2008, the total amount of financial help received by the hospital through the Regional Public Charity Foundation for Seriously ill and Abandoned Children amounted to 3,333,915.78 roubles ($104,185).
The total sum transferred from the account of our Foundation was 3,190,046.42 roubles ($99,689).
Private persons directly provided a total of 143,869.36 roubles ($4496). Continued...

19.01.2009 Dr. Irina Kondratenko, Head of the Department of Clinical Immunology, asked for help in paying for expensive genetic examinations for patients of this departments that come from poor families. Continued...

16.01.2009 Fundraising for the benefit of Vanya Panikhin has been completed. Thank you for helping the boy!

14.01.2009 We have completed the fundraising for the benefit of Kamila Fiapsheva. Special thanks to Renat and Nadezhda, who donated 40,000 roubles (over $1300) to buy Remicade for Kamila.

11.01.2009 Yesterday Orthodox Christmas was celebrated at the hospital church. See photographs.

8.01.2009 The Confael confectionary arranged a beautiful and unusual New Year surprise for the inhabitants of our House of Hope cottage: the children were given a chance to try drawing pictures with their fingers using... colored chocolate.
A little earlier, the Moscow Butterfly House also organized a pleasant surprise, this time for children from the Department of Oncohematology. Many thanks to all! Continued... See photographs.

6.01.2009 Our traditional all-hospital New Year celebration took place on December 29. We wanted to give the feeling of joy and holiday to children who have to celebrate at the hospital, far away from home. We hope that we have succeeded. Continued...
We whole-heartedly thank our friends, from young actors to circus performers, who helped amuse even the most gravely ill children at all departments of our enormous hospital.

5.01.2009 We have sad news. Nastya Zhigalik suddenly died on January 1. During the last years, she could not receive treatment at our pediatric hospital, being over 18, and she waited for kidney transplantation at the Institute of Transplantology.
Nastya was a talented painter, especially interested in icon painting. She had serious plans and fine professional prospects. It is very painful to think that everything stopped so suddenly. God save the soul of this courageous and optimistic person.