To straighten one’s back is to straighten one’s life

Programs " of the fund.

Olesya Lukovenko needs surgery to straighten her spine.

The girl is 11 years old. She has a complex scoliosis of the last, fourth degree, a hump grows. Olesya’s spine is so twisted that her heart and internal organs are under dangerous strain, and her back and head ache. You can’t hide the girl’s suffering in any way. If nothing is done, the spine will continue to deform, and the crooked bones will begin to compress the internal organs even more. Surgery can save Olesya. She needs to install a special structure that will return the spine to the correct position. The girl is expected at Kharkiv National Medical University. But the Lukovenko family has no money for the operation.

Olesya spends almost all his time reading and drawing. Stories, short stories, collections of favorite poems, easel, favorite paints and palette - bookshelves occupy the entire wall in the children’s room, and easel and paint the whole table. Many parents would be happy with such a love of reading and art, but Olesya’s mother, Jan, is seriously worried. Olesya communicates little with her peers, and Yana is afraid that her daughter will be closed, she will be ashamed of her appearance.

- She used to be mobile, sociable, but now she spends less and less time with friends… I even sometimes scold her for the household, - says Yana.

Olesya was born and raised a healthy, emotional child. Even colds rarely hurt, only during the period of adaptation in kindergarten. But during the summer of 2016, the girl grew dramatically, which is not typical for children her age. This is what adversely affected Olesya’s general health.



- Scoliosis was discovered in the fall, recalls Olesya’s mother. - After a scheduled medical examination at school. We immediately went to an orthopedic surgeon, where he was diagnosed with scoliosis of the 4th degree.

After that, Olesya was in the hospital, then spent six months in a tight straightening corset. Now he regularly goes with his mother to physical therapy and massage.
But all this does not help. The girl is growing fast. And with it grows the curvature. During the year, the angle of deviation increased from 16 to 65 degrees. Olesya began to suffer from back pain, shortness of breath, the girl began to get tired quickly.

- The doctors explained to us that Olesya has a severe form of S-shaped scoliosis, which progresses greatly and leads to a change in the shape of the chest and back, - says Olesya’s mother. - Gradually, she forms a hump that presses on the internal organs. She suffers from constant severe back pain, damaged vertebrae begin to press on the heart. Doctors say that in scoliosis the patient’s suffering is directly proportional to the degree of skeletal deformity. They are so obvious to Olesya ... The curvature has already reached 65 degrees!



To the back pain were added frequent headaches, which also occurred due to curvature of the spine. The last year, every day of study and just life requires a lot of effort and great patience from Olesya.

- Olesya returns from school as after a hard day’s work. Sitting at her daughter’s desk hurts her back a lot, so she does some of the housework while lying down, ”says Yana.

The orthopedist also advised the girl to do lying down. This relieves tension in the spine and the pain subsides for a while. Due to Olesya’s illness, she has to give up a lot: she is contraindicated in physical activity - neither to run, nor to go skiing or skating. The only thing Olesya is not ready to part with is art school, although she can’t sit at a desk for a long time either.

- She is very smart, and she studies well, and finds the strength to draw - she likes it, - says Yana Lukovenko with pride. - Olesya has been fond of drawing since she was very young, there is not a day that she does not draw. In May she passed the exams and entered the first grade of art school. Although we have a long way to go from home, she enjoys attending classes. But he gets tired quickly and struggles with pain all the time, - my mother says sadly.



In Ukraine, free operations to correct scoliosis with the use of implant structures do not. Therefore, you do not have to count on quota assistance, and there is no time to wait. During this time, the disease can permanently maim and destroy the child.

Specialists of the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology of NUMK "University Clinic" of Kharkiv National Medical University are ready to install the Stryker design on the girl’s spine now, which will not only correct the curvature, but will continue to keep the bones in the correct position, not allowing them to deform again. But the operation can only be paid.

Lukovenko Yana has three children, whom she raises herself. A family of four lives on the social assistance that Jan and her husband’s alimony receive, which is a little more than four thousand hryvnias a month. Yana has no idea where to get money for her daughter’s surgery. She can only hope for you and me.

Author Roman Betsenko
Photo by Alena Strelina

Head of the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology of NUMK "University Clinic" of Kharkiv National Medical University Dmitry Petrenko (Kharkov):“The patient has a progressive deformity of the thoracic spine. Given the fact that the girl is growing rapidly, if you do not perform surgery in the near future, the child will have a large curvature, which will not only spoil her appearance, but also disrupt the lungs and heart. Surgical correction of scoliosis gives a child a chance to start a full life without pain in the spine, with a beautiful back, study, communicate freely with their peers, and in the future to start a family and become a mother.

The supplier of the metal construction-implant issued an invoice for UAH 95,050 .

Dear friends! If you decide to save Olesya Lukovenko, don’t be embarrassed by the price of saving. Any of your donations will be gratefully accepted. You can send a donation by bank transfer to the Fund. All the necessary details are in the fund. You can also use our electronic payment system by making a donation with a credit card or electronic cash, including from abroad. Also, Olesya can be helped on the website of the Ukrainian Charity Exchange, in the project - How to survive without bending? "Fundraising is closed

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