Six months ago, my mother noticed a small tumor in the armpits of 5-year-old Veronika. Doctors in Ivano-Frankivsk, where the family lives, were shocked – it was cancer: neuroblastoma of the posterior mediastinum with penetration into the adjacent internal organs. Since then, the little girl’s struggle for life began.
The tumor was gigantic: 15×18 cm, and it managed to spread to the heart, esophagus, roots of the lungs, and also compressed the ribs and prevented breathing. The formation penetrated into the spinal cord. The functioning of internal organs, limbs and life in general was at risk. Soon enough, the child began to suffer from severe pain.
Doctors prescribed a course of chemotherapy, but understood that it was not enough. Therefore, they began to look for ways to remove the tumor. Colleagues of the First Medical Association of Lviv were asked for help. Here they decided to operate immediately.
To give the child a chance, a multidisciplinary team of thoracic surgeons, oncologists and pediatric surgeons came together. In total, there are more than ten leading specialists from St. Nicholas Hospital and St. Panteleimon Hospital, as well as doctors from Ivano-Frankivsk.
The patient underwent transverse thoracotomy with clamshell access. That is, the surgeons made a transverse incision in the chest in such a way as to open the right and left parts of the chest at the same time. After that, doctors gained access to the heart and all large vessels. The girl had the tumor and all metastatic foci removed, as well as part of the affected ribs. The formation was close to the heart and squeezed it. The operation was successful and without complications.
Already six days after the operation, the little patient returned home, and in a month she came to see specialists. The child became more active, gained a few kilograms and finally started to smile. Further courses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy await Veronika. The girl and her mother are determined: they believe that they will come out of this fight as winners.