Nadya Timofeeva
Birth: 2005.05.15
Moscow, Russia

Hello, our names are Marianna and Roman Timopheev, we are the parents of two wonderful children: Aleksey, our 6 year old son and Nadya, our 11 month old daughter). We all love each other very much!!

We would like to share with you our story because something terrible has happened to our family. We hope to help other families, like ours, who may not know what to do if the same trouble occurs to them.

Our first son had a difficult birth and barely made it into this world. At birth he weighed 8.4 pounds and 20.86 inches. As a result of discrepancy of the size of a baby and width of the birth canal, he had a problem with his right hand. From a maternity home we were transferred to the hospital, where our son finally recovered after 3 long weeks. As his mother, I was grateful, but traumatized. I began to fear the idea of another birth. .

When I got pregnant for the second time in the summer 2004, I checked in the best clinic in Moscow. I told my doctor about the story with my first birth and made her aware of my worries. I brought up my concern repeatedly to the doctors during my entire pregnancy. Each time the doctor ensured me that she is aware of my fears.

On May 15 2005, I gave birth to my daughter, Nadya. The on duty personnel were aware of the complications of my first birth. I was really worried because as they said this baby was big (more than 8.8 pounds), and I am a woman medium-sized, my height only 5.18 feet! I asked about possibility to do a C section, but they rejected it because it was not planned in advance.

During the birth process, I experienced trouble and the medical personnel foolishly tried to help me by pulling baby's hand out of my body!! As a result the baby has been diagnosed with "Duchenne-Erb's paralysis". After 8 days in this hospital we were transferred to the Neurological Center where my baby endured a one month treatment course that did not bring any results. My daughters head only turns to the left, her left leg moves disjointedly, and she is unable to move her left hand at all.

We went from one hospital to another. Nobody would tell us what to expect. Noone would tell us anything. We had to discover the facts on our own. The truth of the matter is that in Russia, there is no treatment for this paralysis nor is it even possible to diagnose the nerves current condition. There is no way to discover the root clause of partial damage of nerves. Our countries medical treatment facilites are sadly lacking compared to the rest of the developed world.

Out of 7 first months of my daughter's life, 5 months were spent in Hospitals. With our attention focused on our little girl, my son felt very alone.

We eventually decided to seek the truth ourselves. We discovered after much research that the only way to repair my daughters hand is through surgery. We also discovered that only children between the age of 6 and 7 are qualified for this kind of surgery in Russia. We could not wait that long because we could see already the difference between right and left arm. By the time my country would deem our daughter to be worthy of treatment, it would already be too late to help.

Our relatives and friends found out that in other countries this difficult surgery could be done. We send dozens of the letters to doctors in many countries.

The first doctor who responded to us was a surgeon in Germany. He studied all our documents and told us that the case is very serious. He has suggested bringing our daughter to see him for testing and to perform surgery if necessary.

We went to Germany on November 28, 2005. The doctor (Dr. med. J.Bahm, Franziskushospital, Aachen, Germany) performed some tests and confirmed that my daughter has Duchenne-Erb's paralysis. The nerves roots have been broken and separated from spinal canal as a result of her arm being pulled at birth.

The surgery required a transplant of nerve tissue from my daughter's shins. After this was performed, the Doctor discovered an additional issue in my baby's body. There was strong incomplete dislocation of a humeral joint. It required another surgery.

The cost of the surgery including the expenses for the trip was 14,000 Euro. We took some loans, and our relatives helped us with the rest.

After the surgery we consulted the best neurosurgeons and orthopedists in Russia. We got explanation that there is no cure for this illness in Russia. And because of that, there is no Physical therapy program for this case. We understand that without special program for recovery and day-to-day exercises the result of the surgery will not work. We desperately need to go to back to Germany for the recovery program. There is a clinic in Dusseldorf that offers a 21 days rehabilitation course, but cost of this course is 15 -16 thousand EURO, and we cannot afford it.

The Russian Doctors say "You should not even think about full recovery of the hand." And callously insists that "You will be happy if she can hold a toothbrush in her left hand." They do not believe they are being cynical as there is no cure for this in Russia. But the German Doctor insists – This case is a very difficult, but a cure is possible!

Our daughter is now 11 month old. She does not crawl and she is not able to grab toys with her left hand. She is not able to walk, and she is not able to stand because there is no the general balance of a body. It pains us to see her growth so stunted, but we do not have enough money to attempt the recovery program in Germany.

We are asking you for help! If you are a doctor or professional that can offer some advice on treatment or physical therapy, please share your wisdom.

We are currently trying to collect money for the physical therapy. She will also need a second surgery to correct other issues in her body the original damage has caused. Our daughter is not yet a year old, but has endured much suffering in her short life. Please help my little girl Nadya so that she can hope to lead a relatively normal life.

Blessings to everyone who does not remain indifferent!

GOD BLESS YOU!

2006-04-27

USD and EURO requisites [download pdf doc zip]

2006-05-01 To see more pictures.