I'll share some background for those who don't know me. I was in a motorcycle accident 10 years ago and have been a wheelchair user ever since, getting my life back without too much drama. I am alive thanks to Pirogov, but now 10 years later I am trying to be alive despite Pirogov.

For the past 4 months only those closest to me know about the hell I am going through.

And how I'm trying to turn the game around again.

At the end of June, I started to raise temperatures and quite by accident discovered that the reason for the high temperature was that underneath a seemingly rudimentary and superficial sore was a huge cave with countless branches, channels and festering pockets.

After a home consultation with a surgeon and his recommendation to Pirogov, which I refused for two reasons - on the one hand I knew very well about the fame of the purulent-septic ward in Pirogov and on the other hand I had a trip in August which I did not want to jeopardize with an open wound.

We tried for some time to manage in us, but it turned out to be absolutely impossible and want it or not instead of realizing my long-awaited dream-trip on 14.08, I ended up in Pirogov for an operation. I will describe the Pirogov experience in detail in a separate story, but in short - they operated on me and discharged me after 5 days. A week later I was admitted again for high fever and again discharged after 5 days, and on the evening of discharge I was 39.6℃. After 1 week I was admitted again and discharged after 9 days - again with fever. From the first admission I ask the question if there is any danger of the bone getting infected, and all the time everyone reassures me that the wound is away from the bone and there is no danger to it, until the third admission where they explain to me most calmly that my hip is infected. When asked how we were treating it the answer was "not at all, it will melt and leak". It was clear to me at that point that I had no chance in Pirogov, not only for the joint but also for the soft tissue wound and the infection. No solution to control the infection or even look for the causes.

Just to note something very important - Pirogov is the only place in the whole country where they accept people with infected, decubital or diabetic wounds. It doesn't matter who you are or what connections you have. There is no hospital that will take you. Nor do they treat osteomyelitis or bone infection at Pirogov. Some orthopedics do, but if you have an infectious wound, you have no chance of treatment anywhere else but Pirogov.

So with the knowledge that if I didn't get treatment I would die quietly of sepsis, I started ringing friends who had been through similar drama for recommendations for foreign hospitals. I sent emails to all the recommended hospitals with information about my condition asking for the cost of treatment and an approximate stay.

Anadolu Medical Center in Turkey was the first to reply and after a brief communication with them we decided to trust them given my deteriorating general condition. All other options involved 1 or 2 flights which I could no longer endure.

And so I ended up in the Turkish hospital, I'll spare the comparisons with Pirogov.

Right at the check-up, the lead professor, an immunologist-surgeon, called in an orthopedic surgeon and a plastic surgeon, and they drew up an action plan in which the first item was to get the infection under control and bring the temperature down.

I took untold amounts of antibiotic several at a time, almost 15 hours a day, lots of temperature lowering medication and did one four hour surgery in which 3 new pockets of pus and necrosis were discovered.

Today, 10/26, is the first day in 4 months that I really don't have a fever. 4 months where I was hovering between 38 and 40 degrees, several times a day. I became Sopharma's biggest sponsor with the untold amounts of liquid analgin I drank, I don't even know how my body endured and tolerated it all. 4 months where there were times I realized I was unable to even make decisions on my own, 4 months where my body has forgotten what it's like to not have a fever. Four months where, my only dream was to wake up fever free and having fought off infection.

It's a small battle won, but it's going to continue with the antibiotic treatment until the blood and wound is completely cleared of infection, a few treatments with the VAC machine and once everything is permanently cleared - I'll have plastic surgery, which is not cosmetic, but to cover the joint with muscle and tissue and fill in the huge crater so the wound can be closed and heal. Luckily for me I don't have diabetes and the chances are totally realistic.

The truth is that my overall condition was much worse than they had anticipated and within two weeks they had reached the financial limit of the original estimated quote and exhausted all my financial resources.

I had information that this was a commercial - private hospital, but I really had no choice and no idea that I would literally reach a completely zero bank account.

So dear friends for the first time I am reaching out to you asking for your help for my treatment in Turkey which I started on 10/13/2025.

The reality is that for the first time I have to ask for help and the only thing that breaks me to do it is the pain and the will to live.

Endless and heartfelt gratitude to all who will respond!

My dream is simple: to return to normalcy.

THANK YOU and a BUCKLE for your help at this such a pivotal time in my life!