My name is Andrew. I am 29 years old. I was born in Vinnitsa, Ukraine.
I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at the age of 2,5 in a district hospital. The diagnosis was officially confirmed a year later in Odessa
State Children Hospital that was at that time Ukrainian Center for Cystic Fibrosis, working in collaboration with Italian CF specialists.
Already as a preschooler, I knew that I was sick, although I couldn't quite grasp how serious my disease was.
Then I started school. I attended a math and physics magnet school. I can't really say I am gifted in math but I did my best. Unfortunately, at least once a
year I got pneumonia or flu eventually turned into pneumonia. Curiously, I was usually getting sick after the seasonal flu epidemic was over. All of my
classmates were back at school, while I missed a month or more due to illness. This is more or less how first eight years of school gone by.
A year before I started school, I also started taking piano lessons in a music school. For two years, I took swimming classes but I had
to quit after a serious pneumonia. After eighth grade I transferred to a regular public school nearby. Coming from a magnet school, I became
the best student in math and physics. I was always smaller than other kids of my age. I was the oldest in my class but also the shortest.
It wouldn’t have bothered me much if it weren't for other kids teasing me for being so skinny and short and coughing all the time.
By the time I graduated from school, I started researching cystic fibrosis on internet. Still, even then I didn't quite appreciate the gravity
of my condition as whatever little information was available, it was incomplete.
In 2000 I enrolled in correspondence courses in government finance at Vinnitsa campus of Kiev University of Trade and Economics. Five years
later I graduated with degree in finance and economics. In Fall of 2002 I started working as an apprentice jeweller. Unfortunately, I had to quit
my job in summer 2003 after I had a pneumothorax (collapsed lung) and spent a two months in a hospital, including a month in an intensive care unit.
My recovery was slow. I was the first patient with cystic fibrosis that my doctor has ever treated. We joked that treating me was his second residency.
He told me that it wasn't likely to be my last pneumothorax.
And so my life goes on. In 2004-2005 I was a manager in a furniture company. In 2005 I graduated from university, and in 2006 I started working
as an accountant in a construction company. I worked together with my Mom who worked for the same company as an economist. When economic crisis started,
our firm didn’t have any more work and salary was often delayed. I quit my job in 2010.
And then 2011 came. This year became a turning point in my life. It became difficult to breathe with any exertion. I started having increased heart
rate, and had to rest frequently when walking. On October 5, 2011 I was hospitalized with a right-side pneumothorax. On October 16, it happened again.
I couldn't breathe and thought I was going to die. But doctors saved me again. Another month in a hospital, injections, IVs… I didn’t feel much better.
Difficulty breathing, sudden suffocation spells persist until now.
On social networking site VKontakte I met Anya Kolosova from Tomsk, and she became my guide in the world of cystic fibrosis. She introduced me
to volunteers who work in this area, and suggested that I apply to charitable foundations for help. We started raising money for oxygen concentrator
that would help me breathe. Many people including complete strangers contributed to fund-raising efforts through their blogs and a blog in a local
newspaper. I am grateful to all of them. With the help of a local journalist, my story reached out city Mayor. Officials contacted us, my Mom submitted
all the necessary paperwork for me to receive help to cover my treatment costs. That was two months ago, and we haven't heard from the city
administration since.
Now I urgently need antibiotics. For one 21 day treatment course, I need Cefoperazone (4000 mg per day) and amikacin (1000 mg per day).
The total cost of medications for one such treatment course if 11000 Hryvnya, or $1,375 USD. I need a minimum of four course a year, which makes
the total cost of antibiotics at least $5,500 USD per year. My Mom and I now make $370 per month.
Unfortunately, I can't count on help from the state. Government only supplies Creon and mucolytic ACC. But even the medications prescribed
by my doctors are not enough. The reason is quite simple: hospital doesn't have enough money. Medications covered by government don't work for
my condition. Medication that could help me are not included in the list of covered ones. And this is how I live. To be more precise, this is
how I try to survive in this situation. 29 years for a patient with cystic fibrosis in Ukraine is very old. Incredibly old. But I live, and
I try to enjoy every single day. An oxygen concentrator and antibiotics will help me continue my fight against this cruel disease – cystic fibrosis.
News
November 18, 2013. Andrew Slobodyanyuk sent us an update with his news for the past summer:
"In June 2013, thanks to Helpjournal and volunteer group VKontakte, I was able
to buy antibiotics Meronem and Amikacin as well as Fluimucil for IV infusion. At last I am the happiest owner of the portable oxygen concentrator that was bought with the help of Moscow's charitable fund "Help Nikita". The concentrator allows me to be out and about around the city.
At the end of July, after treatment with inhaler medication Tobramycin, I lost my voice. Had to whisper for a while. Very unusual feeling and even funny at times. We were joking with my mother about that.
Unfortunately, communication with clinics about lung transplant option didn't have any results. There are two more clinics that have not declined me as a candidate yet, but those two could not properly estimate the cost of treatment.
The summer has finished peacefully. I expected catastrophic heat but this time lucky. Cannot believe that. Now it is Autumn, I am looking forward to Winter. I already managed to catch a cold. But that's all right!"
We are still raising funds for Andrew to help him with necessary antibiotics.
July 7, 2013. 
We thank everyone who has donated money for Andrew Slobodyanyuk. In June, we have transferred $1,000 to him to help cover the cost of antibiotics for the latest treatment course. Andrew raised most of teh funds himself but without our help he couldn’t get the complete required course. Now Andrew needs specialized nutrition ScandiShake and vitamins. If you or someone you know are flying to Ukraine and can take a small package with nutrition and vitamins for Andrew, please let us know. Overall, Andrew is doing well now but hot summer is always a difficult time for anyone suffering from cystic fibrosis. In the meanwhile, Andrew continues his search for European or North American hospital that would accept him for a lung transplant.
February 18, 2013. Andrew needs our help purchasing medications. Doctors in Moscow recommend that soon he should have a 21-day-long course of treatment with antibiotics.
They suggest either a combination of Meronem and Amikacin (total cost of $5260) or a combination of Fortum and Amikacin (total cost of $2440). At the same time, Andrew is using social networking sites
to raise money to purchase Tobramycin for inhalation therapy that he constantly needs. Without our help, he would not get the treatment he needs. Please, help Andrew!
December 28, 2012 Andrew has just returned from Moscow,
where he has undergone extensive testing in a specialized cystic fibrosis clinic. Now that he has all necessary test results, he
has begun the search for a European hospital that would accept him for further testing and hopefully, for a double lung transplant.
(Such surgeries are not performed in Ukraine, where Andrew lives.) Andrew sends his Christmas greetings and best wishes for the New Year.
December 7, 2012. Not long ago we raised money to purchase antibiotics for Andrew Slobodyanyuk. Now
Andrew needs to travel to Moscow for a series of medical tests to assess whether he is a good candidate for a lung transplant. Our friends from a Ukrainian
foundation that helps critically ill adults "HelpUs" is helping Andrew. Here is what Ira Gavrisheva who works with HelpUs, writes: "HelpUs is our new
site dedicated to helping adults. Our new labour of love. It is still in its infancy and not many people know about it. As a result, we
are not able to raise as much as we'd like. And we would really like to help Andrew Slobodyanyuk raise 2,000 Hryvna that is still needed for his
trip to Moscow. It's a small sum, if we were only talking about a child. But Andrew is an adult, and it takes a incredible amount of effort to get people to
help adults. "
