Can there be harmony without the ability to enjoy the life to its full?
There are two women in this story – 48-year-old Olena Kodentseva and her 71-year-old mother Galina Fedorivna. They live in the frontline town of Mironivsky and fight for life every single day of their lives. They no longer react to the sounds of shelling and exchange of heavy fire. Olena’s life is now threatened by a more dangerous enemy.
In 2016, Olena, who had always been very active and worked in a power plant, suddenly became very sick – she was constantly vomiting, felt dizzy and experienced sharp physical weakness. Before that day, she remembers, the most serious disease she ever had was a cold. The state of weakness and regular gagging became unbearable and the woman went for an examination to a hospital in a nearby town of Bakhmut.
That day, all of Olena’s plans associated with her two sons and her beloved newly born grandson crumbled like a house of cards … The doctors’ verdict after the examination was terrifying: kidney failure of the 5th degree. After several additional examinations, the diagnosis was confirmed … The woman who was healthy and active just yesterday was now totally disabled.
“I was told that only a kidney transplant could save me. In Ukraine, the law does not allow transplantation of donor organs. And my only chance to survive is to be on the waiting list in Belarus for a kidney transplant. On December 11, 2018, they took me to a kidney transplant waiting list in Kiev. 7 months have passed – and still there is not even a preliminary answer when I could have a surgery that would save my life
On April 4, 2019, my condition worsened sharply and the creatinine level went off scale reaching 1000 μmol/L. I was throwing up all the time and was very weak. It’s only thanks to my mother that I am still alive. She’s just had a heart attack and stroke herself. She needs to lay down and relax but she can’t let herself rest. He gets up at 4 in the morning to cook for the family and she cooks for me separately. I’m on a strict diet. I have no power to stop her. Of course, if she stops, we will not survive. I am not even able to cook a meal…”, – Olena turns away and cries.
“That’s it! Enough crying! – Galina Fedorivna, Olena’s elderly mother says cheerfully. – The meal is ready!” she says to our team. No arguments on our behalf were strong enough to persuade this woman why we couldn’t’ stay for a dinner.
A beautiful homemade meal was already waiting for us at the table. While we are eating, Galina was sharing her thoughts with us and then even started artistically reciting her own poems. All of them were filled with pain and desire for life.
This family is an example of the ability to transformation pain into the willingness to enjoy every given minute. This is the embodiment of the sparkling spirit of life with a hopeless disease. These people have learned to find space and time for creativity and poetry.
Unfortunately, there is no place in their life for their biggest dream since no organ transplants are allowed in Ukraine. Every single day Olena has to wonder whether she will wake up the next morning.
We brought Olena something to help her in everyday fight – a bag with household chemicals.
The vital activity of her kidney is supported by the dialysis procedure in a hospital located many kilometers away from her home and several expensive medicines. Medicine called “Selmareks” is the most expensive one and hard to get in Ukraine. Olena’s classmates have been supporting her in her fight against death.
We also want to help this woman by sharing the information about these two courageous women. You can buy Selmarex on your own or donate a sum convenient for you, so that three-year-old Sasha has a grandmother, and two young guys do not remain orphans. And of course, so that the mother does not bury her daughter.
Thank you for following the link and making a feasible contribution to the survival of Olena Kodentseva.
Anna Chaban, CBN-Emmanuel
