GCU Health Center helps children
During one of visits the mobile medical team of GCU Center «Health for the Future» worked in the village Kamenka in Olevsk district, Zhytomyr region. The village is situated on the banks of the river Ubort 12 km from the district center of Olevsk. Population is more than 1,500 people, there are about 500 households. It was one of those cases when doctors received satisfaction from work: well-groomed children and families. Every week a pediatrician from Olevsk visits families who live here. Children have the opportunity to attend local school, as well as dance hobby group and section of wrestling.
They met the Melnyk family: father – Valentin Melnyk (39), he works as a guard at the local peat remanufacturing plant; mother – Lyudmila Melnyk (38) – technical worker at school in Lopatychi village; daughter Diana (13) and son Sasha, born on August 17, 2002 – skinny and thin boy with a faint wheezing, yellow-gray skin and he avoided any communication with doctors. After examining the little boy doctors defined that he had signs of chronic renal failure and within two years he had no special treatment. Doctors studied medical records: it turned out that two years ago Sasha was diagnosed with hiporeflex bladder. He was prescribed special treatment and outpatient observation.
But instead of following clear medical appointments, his parents treated their son only for some time, and then, after some improvements, they decided to stop any medicine intervention in the fate of their child. And this happened despite the fact that parents regularly receive small social assistance to care for disabled child.
After long talk with parents, medical team urged the parents that their son needs treatment. The parents did not believe in its effectiveness. It looked like parents lost faith in complete recovery of their son. It was very oppressing for our specialists. The child's condition was difficult. He required special treatment in the intensive care unit.
Trying to find out why parents neglected the child, team of physicians headed by GCU Coordinator of Health for the Future project Vitaliy Zaremba defined that the reason of ыгср attitude is poverty. Both parents work, but they get minimum salary - about UAH 900 per month. They have some household (cow, pigs, chickens) and half of a vegetable garden, which they treat by hand. After a long conversation specialists managed to persuade parents to treat Sasha. They guided the child with GCU ambulance car to Olevsk hospital, and coordinated his treatment. After stabilization of his condition Sasha was transported to the Zhytomyr Regional Children's Hospital. He was accompanied by pediatric anesthesiologist of Regional Center for Disaster Medicine.
Within two weeks of treatment in intensive care and surgical department number 2, the child was examined by Dmitriy Shevchuk children's urologist, Candidate of Medicine Science. The child's condition had been stabilized; functioning of kidneys was significantly improved. Sasha was being prepared for a planned surgical treatment. Team of physicians are satisfied: the kidney has not failed yet. Now the child and all his family are under the care of medical team of GCU Center «Health for the Future" headed by head of surgical department № 2 at Zhytomyr Children’s Regional Hospital V. Zaremba. Sasha’s parents are very grateful for the doctors’ assistance and patience. They managed to give hope to the parents that their son will recover.
