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HELPING EGOR |
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| Within two weeks
of my discussions with the Belarusian
Association of Foster Carers, Egor had
his first meeting with his prospective
foster mother Margarita Gulko. |
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His
plight broke her heart.
Margarita had already
adopted three siblings,
Dominika – 14, Tomash – 10
and Stefan – 8, six years
ago. Stefan was suffering
from a similar skin
disorder.
The family spent a couple of
weeks getting to know Egor
and finally he was
discharged from the
orphanage into their care.
That was 3 months ago and
the change in Egor’s
personality and demeanour is
astonishing! Margarita knew
it was important not to
disrupt Egor too much and
tried in vain to cure him,
visiting every Belarusian
doctor she could find who
might be able to help and
injecting him regularly with
homeopathic medicines.
Finally she agreed that a
trip to Wales was the only
way forward. |
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Thanks to Dr
Joanna Longstaffe from the
Independent General Practice in
Cardiff, appointments were set
up and Egor, Stefan and
Margarita travelled to Britain
with me on 10th January for a
two week stay. Both boys were to
be assessed. |
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Our first
visit was to the home of ‘Dr
Jo’. This was important for Jo
to build a relationship with
Egor and give him confidence in
her before visiting any ‘
strange’ doctors who would be
likely to pull and prod – a
friendly face goes a long way!
Jo’s delightful family welcomed
Egor and he went off happily to
play with the children. Language
differences were not a problem. |
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| The next
day ‘Dr Jo’ held Egor’s hand as
he went in to see Dermatologist,
Dr Andrew Morris of The
Independent Group Practice.
After a thorough examination,
Egor’s condition was confirmed
as Lamellar Ichthyosis which
affects 1 in 300,00 people. Dr
Morris prescribed drugs and
creams and asked for Egor to be
brought back in 6 weeks time. He
also examined Stefan and was
delighted that Margarita had
been treating his condition
(Ichthyosis Vulgaris) in exactly
the right way. Stefan will grow
out of his Ichthyosis, sadly
Egor’s genetic disorder will be
with him for life, but will be
controlled by medicine. |
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We then had
an appointment with Mr Rob
Walters, Ophthalmologist at
BUPA. Due to his condition
Egor’s eyes were crystallising.
The tight skin prevented him
from closing his eyes at night
and his vision is extremely
poor. He also suffers from a
squint. Mr Walters gave us a
prescription and also wants to
see us in 6 weeks time. |
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| Ian
Chalmers, a Cardiff Optician,
has provided Egor with two pairs
of glasses (Mr Walters felt
that, like all little boys, Egor
was likely to break or lose 1
pair so the others are for
reserve) and the expression on
his face when at last he could
see the world was quite moving. |
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Margarita
had shown concern about Egor
having an enlarged testicle, and
a quick examination by Surgeon,
Mr Brian Rees at BUPA confirmed
that ‘everything’ was normal. |
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| Finally,
Psychologists in Belarus had
diagnosed Egor as having
Cerebral Palsy and this would
effect his school placement. The
general opinion here was that he
does not suffer from such a
condition, but a qualified
assessment would be of benefit.
Dr Johann Tewaternaude a
Paediatric Neurologist at the
University Hospital of Wales
spent some time examining Egor
and found him to be perfectly
normal. He does suffer from the
natural effects of being
institutionalised for 8 years,
but will catch up.
Egor does not
read or write and to allow him
the chance of normal schooling
we are going to provide him with
private tuition until he has
reached a reasonable standard.
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| Throughout the
visit Ian Durham, of Compass Films,
filmed wherever he could. On Egor’s next
visit Ian will continue filming and we
will create a documentary which will be
available, not only in Britain, but for
the Belarusian doctors also. |
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Our
thanks goes to:
Dr Joanna Longstaffe
Dr Andrew Morris
Mr Rob Walters
Mr Brian Rees
Dr Johann Tewaternaude
Ian Chalmers
Ian Durham
Valesa Fleming interpreter
Helen Ward of Effective Communications
Paulette and Richard Hanscombe (who
provided a home for our guests)
And a special thank you to Margarita
Gulko. |
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For more information regarding
Ichthyosis click on this link |
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| See our
Egor appeal at
http://www.justgiving.com/leavesofhopeEgor
and donate on line. |
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