Hello!

My name is Zoya Stefanova and I am the mother of VICTOR.

Osteosarcoma, metastatic. A rare, life-threatening cancer. And in Victor- with multiple dissections in the lungs. We heard the scary diagnosis in the early days of 2021. It would be hard to describe what I felt then, I can't find the right words for the shock, the horror, the fear and the helplessness. For the first time I saw tears in the eyes of my 15 year old, then, child. We started treatment, chemotherapy, in a hospital in Varna. With high hopes for a cure. Until the moment came when we had to operate on the leg and remove the tumor. Then we got the next ( but alas,not the last) "slap". Varna and Sofia doctors were unanimous that we had to AMPUTATE the leg. I will spare you the emotional side of the story. We sought another opinion, in a hospital in Turkey. We asked for help from the NHIF, and were REJECTED!

We started treatment at ACIBADEM hospital, Maslak, Istanbul. They did surgery to remove the tumor, without amputating the leg. Many chemotherapy treatments followed. They also did two lung surgeries. And again chemotherapies. All this over two and a half years. The treatment by then was going in the right direction and was under control. The scars that were left after the surgeries (too many and too small to remove surgically) were now inactive from the chemo. And days before Victor turned 18 , we heard the much awaited news that treatment was over. There couldn't have been a nicer present for his coming of age! Two and a half years, every day, every hour, a brutal struggle!

But our joy was only for two months. At another check-up (July 2023), it turned out that the disease was back. Multiple NEW and activated OLD dissections in the lungs. New treatment started the same day. Eight new courses of intravenous chemotherapy were given. But again there was activity. Two types of radiotherapy were administered - general for both lungs, and targeted radiosurgery for the active dissections. Victor is currently taking two types of oral chemotherapy daily. And every two weeks he also has intravenous. Everything going forward will depend on Victor's condition and the response to the disease, as it is quite aggressive and variable and often requires a change in treatment approach.

Victor has been battling this insidious disease for over three years! Every day is a day of suffering! Every day has been exhausted! Every new day is a gift! But also a fierce, relentless, unstoppable FIGHT FOR LIFE!

I don't know how to answer his unspoken questions...Why me? How long? Will I make it? I can see the pain in his eyes! Often his faith leaves him, less and less do I see his beautiful smile. And it's ruining me!

But Victor, my strong boy, somehow finds the strength to fight! He doesn't stop believing, doesn't stop dreaming, despite everything! THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!

I will hardly find words to express my feelings to you, for your support and sympathy! But my every THANK YOU is from the bottom of my soul! Sincerely, and from the bottom of my motherly heart!

Unfortunately, the healing is CONTINUING! And it is with a broken heart, that I again PLEASE ask for your help! After such a long road, PLEASE continue to be there for Victor! Your support is his CHANCE for LIFE!

Thank you!