What helps a person to uncover inner strength in the face of a battle? What motivates him: family, children, a loved one? What if you don’t have that, but only have yourself and your problems? How do you find the strength to cope and survive this period in your life with dignity?
The story of Bogdan Shtelman, from a small village in the Donetsk People's Republic, is an example of empathy, sensitivity and compassion for the grief of a complete stranger.
When Bogdan was 18 years old, he became seriously ill. The young man began to feel constant weakness. His lymph nodes increased in size, and an incessant cough and fever did not give him rest day or night. During an examination, doctors found a massive formation in the mediastinum. A lymph node biopsy was performed. Histological examination confirmed the doctor’s fears – Hodgkin's lymphoma. For Bogdan's family, this diagnosis seemed out of the blue. His mother died of diabetes a few years earlier. His older brother was disabled due to a mining injury. Bogdan's father was also seriously ill. And now, it was Bogdan. It seemed like this young man had his whole life ahead of him. He had only recently graduated from college and received a diploma to become an underground electrician. He had not yet met the love of his life and had not yet taken a ride in the car of his dreams.
The treatment period coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the irregularity of treatment, Bogdan had four courses of chemotherapy that lasted for six months, and Bogdan saw positive results. However, in the summer of 2022, a deterioration in his well-being was again noted.
Computed tomography showed the growth of a neoplasm in the mediastinum. The doctors had questions: did the treatment not help or did he relapse? The young man was sent to the NMRC for Hematology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
On arrival to Moscow, it turned out that Bogdan’s disease had progressed. There was an urgent need get the necessary paperwork sorted. Doctors from the polyclinic of the NMRC for Hematology, Tatyana Nikolaevna Moiseeva and Lyubov Sattarovna Al-Radi, called the head of the Hematology and Intensive Care Foundation. Evgenia Fotchenkova appealed to the refugee assistance headquarters, and all administrative and legal issues were resolved. Bogdan was hospitalized in the Department of Chemotherapy for Lymphatic Tumors with Bone Marrow and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Unit with Day Hospital. Oleg Viktorovich Margolin, hematologist, became his attending physician.
Hematologists Oleg Viktorovich Margolin and Lyubov Sattarovna Al-Radi
"Taking into account the morphological variant of the tumor, the young age of the patient and the progression of the disease, Bogdan was prescribed a course of treatment under the Nivo-BeGEV program followed by transplantation of his own hematopoietic stem cells. It uses the targeted drug nivolumab. The program has demonstrated high effectiveness regardless of the composition and duration of previous antitumor drug treatment with an acceptable toxicity profile. The treatment took place both in the hospital and on an outpatient basis. In total, 2 courses of chemotherapy were carried out," Oleg Viktorovich said.
Progress in treatment was noticeable after the first course of chemotherapy. The "Hematology and Intensive Care" and "Find your Doctor" Foundations provided assistance with the purchase of nivolumab. The Chairman of the Association "Hello," Irina Barova, helped organize the delivery of the medicine to Donetsk. In order to receive treatment in a day hospital in Moscow, you had to be a registered resident.
And once again, volunteers came to the rescue. For some time, Bogdan lived in the Skazka Hotel, where Valentina Konstantinova worked. Her mother was also being treated at the same time by Oleg Viktorovich at the NMRC for Hematology. He later moved into an apartment. A former patient had donated temporary housing to the foundation. Volunteers, Anna Bespalova and Vladimir Dubrovsky, not only helped solve everyday problems, but also supported Bogdan emotionally.
Bogdan on a walk through VDNH with volunteer Vladimir Dubrovsky
After achieving remission, Bogdan underwent transplantation of his own hematopoietic stem cells. Now, Bogdan is at home with his family. Of course, the life circumstances that he had to face at such a young age affected his personality and influenced his life path, but the main lesson that Bogdan will remember for the rest of his life is that the support of even complete strangers can save lives and help overcome difficulties. In conclusion, I would like to recall the words of Martin Luther: "No one may forsake their neighbors when they are in trouble. Everybody is under obligation to help and support their neighbor as they would themselves like to be helped."
