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Vanya Makhnev
Vanya Makhnev Dear readers!
My name is Tatiana Makhneva. I was born in 1976.
Vanya is my first child. He is 1 year and 5 months old. We looked forward to the birth of this child and love him very much. But he has leukemia and needs a marrow transplantation operation. We have no related donor.
My husband is over forty. Vanya is also his first and beloved child. My husband has got a job, but salaries in our region are very low, and the money he earns is barely sufficient for our daily needs in Moscow. We even have nothing to sell in order to pay for the transplantation ourselves.

With respect and hope,
Tatiana A. Makhneva
town of Kurgan-Zauralye
September 7, 2006

The doctor's comment

Vanya Makhnev, aged 1 year 5 months, is a patient of the Department of Oncohematology-16. His diagnosis is myeloid leukemia M7. Considering the extremely grave and aggressive form of the disease, as well as very slow attainment of remission during the chemotherapy, the only chance to save the child's life consists in unrelated marrow transplantation. Search and activation of an unrelated donor cost 15,000 euro.

Head of the Department of Oncohematology-16
Dr. Dmitri V. Litvinov

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News

28.07.2007 Vanya Makhnev died. A grave viral infection affected the boy's brain. The doctors tried to conquer it for a month and a half. Unfortunately, the boy's immunity, which had been artificially suppressed for engraftment of the donor marrow, was powerless even against viruses that would have been harmless for a healthy person. Please pray for this infant's soul and for the boy's parents in their grief.

17.07.2007 Head of the Department of Oncohematology-16 D.V. Litvinov tells:
"The situation with Vanya Makhnev is very serious. In spite of the treatment, Vanya shows no positive dynamics, and his encephalitis is growing progressively worse. Chemotherapy has reduced the content of blast cells, but this is not what presents the main danger in the boy's current condition. The results of tests for all infections are negative except for the Epstein-Barr virus, but treatment of this virus is inefficient so far. Please pray for the child!"

21.06.2007 We have already informed you that Vanya Makhnev had life-threatening complications. Yesterday the doctors decided to make a boost infusion of donor lymphocytes, which might help the boy's organism fight this infection. The cells will be delivered from Germany (Stefan Morsch Stiftung) on June 26. They cost 8100 euro.

20.06.2007 Vanya has developed viral encephalitis. This infection is very dangerous and very difficult to fight. Vanya is receiving intensive therapy, but it is too early to speak of positive dynamics.

22.04.2007 Information from E.V. Skorobogatova:
"About Vanya Makhnev. The boy had Epstein-Barr viral infection two weeks ago. We coped with it successfully, and the virus was eliminated from blood. We will wait till the next week and then cancel the specific therapy. The struggle against the CMV infection was also successful enough. The number of virus copies is small. Somatically, Vanya is all right. He is active and has no fever."

4.04.2007 E.V. Skorobogatova, Department of Marrow Transplantation:
"Vanya Makhnev has no serious problems now. The graft is functioning fine, and there are no signs of graft vs. host disease. He shows complete donor chimerism. Last week, he had a transfusion of donor lymphocytes to provoke the graft vs. leukemia reaction to the minimum residual illness. Vanya has a medullary remission. But, since he had no GVHD except for very slight skin rash, we still want to simulate the graft vs. host disease, because otherwise the risk of leukemia relapse will be very high. If tests show that the CMV infection is completely over, Vanya will be allowed to leave the hospital for out-patient treatment."

16.03.2007 Dr. Elena V. Skorobogatova, Head of the Department of Marrow Transplantation:
"A few words about Vanya Makhnev. Almost a month and a half have passed since this child had unrelated transplantation for refractory acute myeloid leukemia. The boy's main problem at present is CMV infection in the form of pulmonary lesion. High doses of immunoglobulins are required. Engraftment of the donor marrow has taken place, and his condition is under control."

21.02.2007 Elena V. Skorobogatova, Head of the Department of Marrow Transplantation, tells:
Vanya Makhnev has a WBC count of 1000. There are no signs of graft vs. host disease or infectious complications. The liver and spleen have decreased a little.

18.02.2007 Elena V. Skorobogatova, Head of the Department of Marrow Transplantation, tells:
Vanya Makhnev showed no signs of engraftment at the 20th day after the unrelated transplantation. Let us wait a week more. The boy has no fever, and his oral mucosa looks better. There are no signs of graft vs. host disease. I must remind you that this child had refractory acute myeloid leukemia and underwent marrow transplantation without attaining remission. His liver and spleen were notably enlarged owing to the main disease. Unfortunately, the liver and spleen are not shrinking as yet. Let us hope that the child will attain remission.

30.01.2007 Vanya Makhnev has had marrow transplantation. However, there was an emergency situation. The possibility of surgery (and therefore the boy's life) was threatened at the last moment. The situation was resolved only thanks to doctor Marina Persiantseva, to her selflessness and unique gift of persuasion. For many years, doctor Persiantseva has been responsible for delivery of containers with a donor marrow from a foreign clinic to Moscow.
The very day when Vanya was expecting the arrival of the just taken donor cells, when his own bone marrow was completely killed by the chemotherapy, when survival is possible only if the transplantation takes place in a few hours... it was the day when winter came to Europe. Airports were closed because of snowfall and storm. The flight to Moscow was delayed for an indefinite time. But the doctor managed to convince the pilots (and they convinced their administration) that the donor marrow must be delivered to the Moscow hospital at all costs. The plane took off and safely landed in Moscow several hours later.

16.01.2007 Vanya Makhnev has been transferred to the Department of Marrow Transplantation. Alena has donated 5000 euro to Stefan Morsch Stiftung for activation of Vanya's donor. The bou's condition is clinically stable. The transplantation is scheduled for January 26 or 27.

11.12.2006 An unrelated donor has been found for Vanya Makhnev!

They have helped

28.02.2007 Dmitri gave 100,000 roubles ($3775) to the parents of Vanya Makhnev.


Many thanks to all who have responded!