Little Areg Khachatryan turned four on March 10, just one day after his sixth round of chemotherapy. The young boy, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma last August, has more rounds of chemotherapy under his belt than years of life.
Areg Khachatryan prepares for Easter, painting eggs during his stay at Cologne University Hospital’s Cancer Center, where he is receiving expensive treatment for an extremely rare form of cancer, neuroblastoma. He received his sixth round of chemotherapy a day after his fourth birthday.
Neuroblastoma is a rare type of cancer, which affects mostly children under the age of five. Initially, oncologists in Yerevan told Areg’s parents that the chances of their son’s survival were slim to none, but the two didn’t give up hope easily, told a recent article in Hetq.am. They’re no stranger to adversity, especially Areg’s father, Armenak Khachatryan, who lost his eyesight at the age of seven, and has gone on a University law degree, and is now a co-founder of the start-up HelloSIM.
In September, Areg was admitted to Cologne University Hospital’s Cancer Center, where he is being treated by a leading researcher on neuroblastoma, Dr. Frank Berthold. Since then, Areg has been undergoing a medical treatment plan that has included chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.
Several months later, Areg is showing signs of improvement. Up until now, the family had been paying for the treatment through nearly 90,000 of donations and a grant from a German foundation had contributed 35,000 for some rounds of chemo and the removal of an adrenal gland tumor. But the Khachatryans have recently encountered another financial hurdle.
On March 6, Areg’s mother, Anna Babajanyan, posted an update to the YouCaring page she started to help raise funds several months ago: “Today we received another invoice from the Uniklinik, stating that in order to continue the treatment they need a prepayment of another EUR 100 000 by the 15th of March, that sounds crazy, to be able to get that money within 9 days only, but this is the requirement and the price for our son’s health and life.”
Areg’s parents have just three days to raise another 100,000 Euros to ensure their son gets the necessary round of chemotherapy and stem cell transplant. “We say that human life is precious,” Areg’s mother told Hetq, “but when you hear the numbers quoted by physicians, half a million euros, you really feel just how expensive it can be.”
Donations can be made towards Areg’s medical costs by visiting his YouCaring page, or by bank transfer (information available upon request).
The post Four-Year-Old Armenian Boy Fighting Cancer Needs Help appeared first on The Armenian Weekly.
Source: Armenian Weekly
Link: Four-Year-Old Armenian Boy Fighting Cancer Needs Help