“My son covers his ears with hands while I scream in pain…”
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New Year is a time of miracles, but not for little Nikoloz and his seriously ill mother. “Dear Santa, I don’t need toys, I just want my mommy to not hurt anymore, I know you are a real magician, I beg you, give her health …” – that’s what 9-year-old boy Nikoloz writes to Santa, because toy cars with large, beautiful wheels are not at all his dream on New Year’s holiday. His young mother, Aliona, does not wear heels and dresses, her outfit is large and heavy metal structures. The days and nights of Nikoloz are filled with the tears of his mother, crying from unbearable pain.
The story of this close-knit family, consisting of little Nikoloz Khachinania, his mother, Aliona Zaridze, and grandmother, Stella Zaridze, is pretty harsh. Aliona, Niko’s mother is seriously ill. The woman was born with a prolapse of her hip joint, the situation worsened over the years, the disease progressed. Aliona has already undergone 11 unsuccessful operations, and finally she got locked in heavy iron structures as if in a cage and became a hostage to constantly progressing infections. “Oh, I want so much to fly out like a bird, put on a light dress, joyfully run through Mushtaid Park holding my son’s hand,” – Aliona says with tears in her eyes, – “but I can hardly walk …”. Aliona needs an expensive, crucial hip joint implant replacement surgery. She needs an implant made of a special silver metal to prevent further infections that can lead to a terrible death from sepsis.
“Do not let another mother grieve, save my daughter … – Stella Zaridze says through tears, – She suffered so much – they cleaned her wounds, cut off her flesh, put her in metal – fixed hip with screws, cemented it. Sometimes it seemed that the worst was very close … And Nikoloz? He can’t stand it if something happens to her – he loves his mom so much! Every day before going to bed, he makes a wish to give his mother a new leg, well, he doesn’t even have a normal sleep – Aliona often screams from unbearable pains at night … We see her torment, but we are helpless and powerless. Help us, I beg you … “
“If only mom got better”
“I always help my mother move around”
– Aliona, how are you?
Aliona (36 years old): I’m very bad. I’ve already crossed every conceivable pain threshold. I am completely addicted to painkillers. I cry, I scream… My son covers his ears with his hands and runs away from home screaming: “Save my mom!” If you only saw how he begged the ambulance doctors yesterday. When I remember that, I bite my lips in pain. I want to endure more to protect my child, his psyche, but … (Pauses.)
I’m trying to get used to the idea that one day I won’t wake up … I already dreamed about it, although in my life I have always been a fighter.
Stella, Aliona’s mother (58): Well, what are you talking about, daughter? What should I do then? What will your Nikusha do? It would be unfair if he loses you forever! The child dreams of your recovery day and night. He writes letters to Santa on New Year. This is the only wish he makes when he blows out the candles on his birthday. He prays that he can run with his mother again.
(Aliona takes a painkiller and continues.)
Aliona: The operation that will save me is expensive. My family has already done a lot for me. I was operated on 11 times, we spent more than 100 thousand lari. Mom sold everything she could, took out all the loans she could. All my friends and relatives who sympathized with me helped me. But now we are completely inconsolable. No one has any resources left. No one at all.
“I take too many painkillers, but I can’t stand the endless pain”
– What is your diagnosis? Can you tell us more about your illness and operations?
Stella: I will tell you. Aliona was born with a prolapse of her hip joint.
Despite her special needs, she always worked, always made efforts, until her situation became so complicated …
I don’t know what mistake the doctors made, but induced labor led to this result. Then I took her to massages, to the doctor on a regular basis. My mother was alive, and my husband also lived with me then. We had more opportunities, and Aliona did not lack attention. One way or another, my girl developed normally, walked, was active, although she limped. The attending physician advised us to do the operation when her bones stop growing.
At the age of 23, when she started having pains, they operated on her for the first time. It was a total hip arthroplasty. She had hip replacement with “Johnson” hip implant with permanent warranty.
The metal structure is implanted to Aliona
Aliona: He had to work for at least 20 years. But during implantation, a nerve was damaged due to tension. I returned to normal life but felt almost nothing below my knee. I moved using muscles. In 2012, I got married. My Nika was born in 2013. I gave birth by C-section – I could not do it otherwise. Despite not feeling my leg, I walked, worked, and lived a normal life. My leg hurt from time to time, but I took Dexalgin, and so another day passed.
– Why didn’t you see a doctor?
Aliona: I was already married. My husband did not care about my situation, he did not want to spend money on my health. He probably though that it was not that serious.
– But he initially knew about your problem?
Aliona: Yes, of course he knew. My salary was not enough to solve this problem. And I hid it from my mother. If I had told her, I would have had to tell her about the situation in our family, about the indifference of my husband, about our quarrels. I didn’t want my mom to worry about everything together.
– Well, but this problem was the most important, right?
Aliona: For me, the child that I took care of was important. I tried to make sure he had everything. I worked two jobs to live normally. Since 2017, I started having constant pains, I have finally become addicted to painkillers.
One year later, the pain became stronger, and I finally went to the doctor. The doctor said that I needed urgent surgery. I could not get operated on due to lack of funds. On July 17, 2019 I collapsed. I couldn’t hide anything anymore…
“It was necessary to urgently change the metal prosthesis that I had in my body”
Stella: It was a shock for me. It turned out, that my daughter suffered a lot and hid such pain behind her smile. (Cries)
Aliona: My mother, my stepfather, who raised and cared for me from the age of two, my grandmother, who was still alive, and even my husband, with their joint efforts, debts, loans, and things sold from home, managed to finance ten more operations. And I managed to endure these operations.
– And your husband supported you…
Aliona: He only did it once and helped a little. And then… Then he realized that I could no longer be the breadwinner in the family. He thought I became a burden to him. He no longer needed disabled Aliona. We broke up. It is very hard for me to remember what I had to endure, both physically and mentally.
“It is impossible to endure pain without my mother’s help. She is with me all the time.”
– Why did you need ten more operations?
Aliona: Changing the prosthesis was not that easy. Due to the movement of the metal, the so-called “sawdust” accumulated in the base. They cleaned me, cut off the flesh, “put me in metal” – fixed with screws, “cemented”. Lord, I went through terrible agony.
(It’s hard for Aliona to continue our conversation.)
This is documentation and x-rays from all operations. There are so many of them that you can fill the library
Aliona’s medications. She needs at least 400-500 GEL per month for medications
“If I could, I would give my daughter my own joint, and we would completely forget about these pieces of iron”
(Mom Stella continues the conversation.)
Stella: I do not rule out that there was a medical error. My daughter was fitted with the wrong size implant. Her joint fell out three times, her muscle tissues were damaged. She developed an infection: first staphylococcus aureus, then coli infection. God, it was scary to look at that. Her leg became huge, completely swollen. They took out a huge amount of pus by drainage. It was a nightmare. There is still a lot of pus. She keeps undergoing medical procedures. You have already seen that we do this at home due to lack of funds.
– What can help her now?
Stella: An operation, but we will never manage to find funds for it unless we have the support of good people. I want to address them as a desperate mother: “Please help me and save my daughter! My kind, cheerful girl, who, despite her special needs, radiated and filled our lives with joy, like the sun. She was always active, educated, she loved order. She’s a busy bee. I beg you, help me get my girl back!”
– Should the implant be replaced again during the operation?
Stella: Yes, they must put an implant made of silver metal to avoid infections. It is necessary to bring her treatment to the end, to correct her current condition. That is why this operation is so expensive. We won’t be able to pay for it without help.
– If the doctors don’t operate on her in time, then…
Stella: I don’t even want to imagine what happens. Sepsis will develop and I will lose my girl. I will lose the most precious thing I have. I beg you, don’t let another mother grieve! Please, support me! Aliona is a kind and empathetic person. She always helped people in need, she shared a crust of bread with them. She will never forget your kindness.
– Stella, did you address authorities for help?
Stella: We repeatedly wrote applications, but each time they refused us.
– Did you never get help?
Stella: The operation, which Aliona underwent at the age of 23, was fully financed by Mr. Lasha Zhvania. Its cost was seven thousand lari. The remaining ten operations, which she underwent later, got very little funding. Probably the amount of 4 thousand lari in total. But more than 100 thousand lari was spent. And now they just refuse us.
– How do you feel, Aliona? (I see that she has calmed down.)
Aliona: My dear, these walkers make me feel like I’m in a cage. With six legs, of which I can hardly trust just one. How can I fly out of it, take off, do a lot of things, work, and look after my baby? In the meantime, I am tormented by unbearable pains that have no end in sight. I do not ask God for anything – I will be content with what I have. If only he would put me on my feet, and I can handle the rest myself.
She gets tired very quickly, and the pain does not stop. It hurts all the time
– Do you believe in God?
Aliona: If I didn’t believe in God, I wouldn’t have lived to this day. What did my body have to endure?! What experiments did the doctors make on me?! I am alive only thanks to the will of the Lord! God sees our every step.
I remember one story, which made me believe even more in goodness, in His mercy and in the Lord himself. I was little, it was the 90s. My dad (my stepfather) gave me three coins of 50 tetri. He told me to buy bread and fruits for the family. I went to the collective farm market and saw there an elderly woman begging for alms. Without thinking twice, I gave one 50 tetri coin, to her. Then I went to the market. What could I buy with one lari? And I still had to have money left for bread. No matter, that prices were different at that time – it was still impossible to buy so much food for that kind of money as I brought home that day. All the merchants gave me more weight, than I asked. I thought it was certainly because I did good to that old lady. Two days later I did the same, but this time I was not so lucky. Do you know why it happened? Because the first time I did good selflessly, and the second time – on purpose. The Lord sees only selfless kindness and soon rewards for it when we do not expect it.
***
This story stuck in my head. I thought about how close you are to God, faithful friends of our Fund, because you always do such good deeds. You selflessly do good, sometimes you do it even incognito. May the Lord keep each of you and give you long life for the good you have sown. And what you donate for Aliona will become another good deed that will bring you closer to God.
“My mother will live, won’t she?”
At the gate I met little Nika again, he was still shy and hiding. And again, he asked me in a clear voice: “Ma’am, my mother will be saved, right?” How could I not say yes to this question when so many kind people are behind me!
Aliona Zaridze’s address is: Tbilisi, 13 Bukhaidze Str.
If you have a heavy heart because of everyday problems or unresolved issues, as a distraction just see our posts on Facebook, or better call any of our beneficiaries, and all your problems will seem unimportant to you, compared with the problems of those to whom you opened your kind heart and helped in the most difficult moment of their lives.
Our problems are noting if compared… Here are true misfortunes, in front of your eyes! Just thank the Lord for what you have. You are the happiest person in the world! Remember this and help those in need.
Every time you can help someone, just do it, and rejoice that God answers someone’s prayers through you!
Please don’t forget to repost our story. Let your friends know about the grief of this family! It’s extremely important!
Friends, there is one more request: if you know about the misfortune of a neighbor or friend do a godly deed, drop us an email at: office-fsp@fsp.ge.
Our Fund’s accounts are:
#GE15TB7194336080100003
#GE42LB0115113036665000
#GE64BG0000000470458000
(purpose: Aliona Zaridze)
You can also transfer money from our website
It is also possible to transfer money from TBCpay and ExpressPay terminals. Find our Fund under “Charity” section (You can read more about rights and responsibilities of the Fund following the link https://goo.gl/GY2Gus).
We have already helped thousands of disadvantaged people! Let’s support this family too! And who knows, maybe someday we ourselves will need help of strangers! Life is always unpredictable!
We have good news for you – now you can read the stories of our beneficiaries on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chernovetskyi.fund/ and Telegram: https://t.me/ChernovetskyiFund.
Even if you dial once this special number, it might save someone’s life: 0901 200 270!