Life. To be continued ...
BODY DRAWING.
Lera Papkova’s spine was straightened.
Last summer we told you the story of Lera Papkova. An eleven-year-old girl with severe scoliosis, doctors suggested correcting the deformity of the spine with the help of Stryker metal construction. Lerina’s mother was unable to pay for the implant. You, Ufond readers, collected 139,050 hryvnias for the girl. At the end of 2015, Lera underwent surgery at the Kharkov Institute of Spine and Joint Pathology. WE. Sitenko.
Lera is going through a difficult period of rehabilitation. While the girl is mostly lying. Every day he goes for a walk with his mother for 30-40 minutes - to train muscles.
You have to get used to the construction, Lera still has many limitations: you can’t sit, walk, make sharp movements for a long time. But the main thing is that there is nothing left of the planned hill. Doctors promise that in time the girl will be able to lead a normal life.
- This is her character: if she decides something, she will definitely achieve it, - says Liliana, Lera’s mother.
- It turns out, - I interrupt, - that in your history of recovery the great merit of Lera is great?
- Yes, - says Liliana, - Lera set herself up for the best, read on the Internet about how people decided to have surgery and their lives changed.
Lera really wanted another life. From the age of seven, the girl wore a corset. Every day, on top of clothes. I went to school in it, endured ridicule from classmates. She suffered from back pain, performed the hated therapeutic gymnastics. And scoliosis meanwhile progressed, a hump appeared.
When it came to surgery, Lera was not afraid. At least she didn’t look up, didn’t talk to her mother. I cried only once when I had to cut my hair before the operation to install a halo device - a device for fixing the cervical spine. The girl, and here you go, shaved naked, with some piece of iron on his head.
The halo device had to be worn for two long months, until the beginning of December. After that, doctors performed an operation to install the Stryker metal structure. Lera spent a week in intensive care, then she was transferred to a regular ward, and by the New Year she was discharged home.
Lera and her mother still live in Kharkov, they rent an apartment near the clinic. Doctors still need to observe the girl, make sure that the metal structure has taken root.
Lera at home school. In her free time she reads and draws a lot - she used to study at an art school. She is mainly interested in cartoon characters, but her albums also include landscapes. As Liliana says, "Lera’s mood is Buddhist." The girl is patiently waiting for the end of the postoperative regime. Soon Lera will get used to her new "direct" state, gain strength. And, as a teenager should, he will go for a walk with his girlfriends. Maybe even for the whole day.
The column is led by Sergey Semenov
Photo from the personal archive of the Papkov family