At St Nicholas Hospital of the First Lviv Medical Association, doctors carried out lengthy and complex treatment of 13-year-old Lviv resident Solomiia Lavna, who had been diagnosed with a rare malignant brain tumour. The girl is now in stable remission and comes to the hospital only for routine check-ups.
Solomiia’s health problems worsened in the spring of 2025. As the schoolgirl was getting ready for school, she suddenly suffered a severe seizure. She was urgently taken to St Nicholas Hospital, where, after a detailed examination, doctors found a dangerous mass of about 4 cm in the third ventricle of her brain. It was diagnosed as a germinoma — a tumour that forms during foetal development and usually manifests itself in adolescents during hormonal changes.
The first stage of treatment was undertaken by neurosurgeons. They performed an endoscopic biopsy, during which they removed part of the tumour for laboratory examination and reduced the critical pressure on the brain. The pathology laboratory confirmed the malignant nature of the mass, after which the girl was transferred to the oncology ward.
A team of paediatric oncologists together with a paediatric endocrinologist worked on the next stages of treatment. A combined therapy was developed for Solomiia, involving continuous medical supervision, four intensive courses of chemotherapy and 22 sessions of radiotherapy. The doctors not only followed the necessary protocols, but also gave the girl constant moral support, becoming her “second family” during treatment.
While in the oncology ward, Solomiia took up a new hobby — crocheting toys. The idea came from the presents she received after procedures from the ward’s friends — the Zaporyka charity foundation and the NGO “Evum”. In time, she learnt to crochet rabbits and teddy bears herself and gave her first creations as gifts to the medical team of the oncology ward.
Months of well-coordinated work by specialists and exhausting treatment ended in success: follow-up examinations showed that no trace of the tumour remained in her brain. Since December 2025, Solomiia has been in remission, feels well, has returned to her normal life and continues to create crocheted toys. During her most recent visit to the hospital, she also presented her handmade soft lucky charms to the neurosurgeons, anaesthetists and neurologists.
Today, the girl dreams of opening her own shop of crocheted toys, and the story of her treatment at St Nicholas Hospital has become an example of the effective work of the team of the First Lviv Medical Association, which provides a full range of modern medical care for children and adults.