Ajude Katia voltar a andar - Help Katia to walk again

Esta da foto é a Kátia, minha irmã mais nova. A única que eu tenho. Há oito anos a vida da Katia virou de ponta-cabeça e a da nossa família também. 

Em junho de 2012 ela descobriu, depois de relutar em procurar um médico e por meses sofrendo com dores fortes nas costas, um tumor medular chamado Ependimoma. Já fez oito cirurgias na coluna e bacia para retirar os tumores que crescem rápido. Já chegou a fazer duas cirurgias num mesmo ano. Ficou 18 meses com um buraco aberto nas costas porque a radioterapia não deixava o corpo fechar a ferida da operação. Agora, não há outro tratamento para o tipo de câncer que ela tem. Só cirurgia. 

Os procedimentos dos últimos dois anos foram os piores. Kátia, que pilotava uma moto Honda 300 cilindradas, trabalhava em pé o dia todo, sempre muito ativa e animada, e não dependia de ninguém, hoje está acamada. 

Mas esse não é o único sofrimento. Como o tumor medular afeta o sistema nervoso, as cirurgias lesionaram, de forma permanente, os nervos das costas, que não se regeneram. Ela sente dores constantes e absurdas. Já chegou a tomar 10mg de morfina de uma vez e não conseguiu paz. As dores constantes fazem com que ela tenha que tomar oito tipos de medicamentos diariamente. Todos extremamente fortes e agressivos que desencadeiam efeitos colaterais dolorosos. Sofre também com descargas elétricas nas pernas e pés. 

Ela ainda tem a possibilidade de recuperar uma das pernas e conseguir se locomover com o apoio de um andador. Mas as sessões de fisioterapia são muito caras e requerem equipamentos. 

Por isso decidimos fazer essa vaquinha virtual. Com ajuda financeira poderemos pagar as sessões de fisioterapia, que ficam em torno de seis mil reais por mês, numa clínica de Cuiabá que possui todos os equipamentos de que a reabilitação dela necessita. 

Além disso ela precisa de um guincho para acamados para ter mais liberdade. Um guincho hidráulico dos mais simples, custa em torno de 3.200 reais à vista (marca Vollenz). Assim minha mãe conseguirá, sozinha, transferi-la para a cadeira de rodas para tomar banho e sair do quarto durante o dia e leva-la ao banheiro quando necessitar. Há a necessidade de adaptar o quarto e o banheiro da casa, que são pequenos e insalubres.

No momento, não posso ajudar diretamente nos cuidados com a Katia porque cuido do nosso pai, que também tem câncer. Moramos, portanto, em casas separadas. É uma situação complicada a da nossa família. Sem dinheiro, fica pior. Se você puder contribuir de alguma forma ou com qualquer quantia, agradecemos de coração. Não temos meta estipulada porque a fisioterapia é um gasto contínuo. 

Uma última observação necessária: apesar de todas as dores e a falta de paz que os choques produzem em seu corpo e sua mente e de ter vencido a Covid há dois meses, Katia tem fé de que dias melhores virão e sempre que pode ri, sorri e compartilha memes engraçados no Facebook. Ela é, acima de tudo, resiliente! PS: Criei a valkinha no meu nome, Marcia Marafon e com meu CPF, mas os dados bancários são da minha irmã Katia C. Marafon. 

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This in the picture is my sister Katia. The only one I have.  Eight years ago, in June 2012, Katia’s life turned upside down. So did our family´s .

She discovered, after seeing a doctor, having suffered for months from severe back pain, a spinal cord tumour called Ependymoma. In a desperate bid to remove the rapidly growing  tumour, she had two surgeries in a period of six month. So far, she had eight surgeries on her spine and hip, sometimes enduring multiple surgeries in a single year. 

One year she spent 18 months with an open hole in her back because radiotherapy - which she had received in order to fight back against the tumours creeping up her spine - would not permit her body to close the wound following her operation. While a painful process, this repeat surgery was necessary as it was the only way to keep the cancer at bay. 

The procedures of the last two years have taken a severe toll on Katia. She was a free spirit who once rode a motorcycle, worked on her feet all day, was active, lively and independent. She was, in short, a normal girl of her age. Today, she has been unfairly deprived of those liberties and is dependent on the assistance of others throughout her daily life. 

As if the above was not enough, the medullary tumour affected Katia’s nervous system and the resulting surgeries have permanently damaged the nerves on her back. As a result, she feels constant, inexplicable pain and shocks, such that she is required to take around eight different types of medication. This medicine, which includes morphine, is all necessarily high strength in order to effectively dull the pain she experiences. However, because of this, even the medication which she takes to ease her suffering can have unpleasant side effects. 

Despite all of the pain which she has experienced, Katia is an extraordinarily resilient young woman who remains hopeful of better days. She continues to laugh, smile and share memes with her friends and family on the internet. This positive attitude and love of life is what has enabled her to pull herself through what has, undoubtedly, been one of the darkest periods of her life. Her faith was bolstered when, last July, she prevailed over Covid-19. 

There is also now hope – a light at the end of the tunnel – as Katia has been told that she still may be able to recover the use of one of her legs. This would mean that she may be in a position to learn to manoeuvre herself with the support of a walker and, in turn, take her first steps toward a brighter future, recovering her independence and some sense of normality along the way. 

To do so, however, she needs your help. 

The physiotherapy sessions and support, which Katia will require, are very expensive and are certainly beyond the means of her and her family alone. These lessons will cost in the region of 6,000 reais (around 900 pounds) per month as they will need to take place at a specialist clinic, in Cuiabá, which has all of the necessary equipment to help her through her rehabilitation. In addition, Katia will need to acquire and install equipment to assist her in her day-to-day life, including: a hydraulic bedside winch which will enable her mother to transfer her to a wheelchair and to help her bathe and move around the house throughout the day, along with adaptations to other rooms in her home to make them more suitable for a person with limited mobility. 

It is for these reasons that we decided to create a Crowdfunding page. 

I currently live some distance away from Katia and am unable to provide her with the care she needs as I also have a responsibility to care for our father who, likewise, suffers from cancer. This situation is complicated by the fact that, as a family, we simply do not have the means to pay for the therapy and equipment which she needs in order to get better, 

Our last hope is that with the kindness, generosity and support of our friends, family, acquaintances and potentially even the generosity of strangers we may be able to secure enough donations to ensure that Katia is able to get the help which she needs in order to get back onto her feet and to live the best live she possibly can. We do not have any fixed fundraising target because her physiotherapy will be an ongoing process. However, we are hoping to raise as much as possible in order to do the very best which we can for Katia in her hour of need.   

If you are able to contribute in any way we would be eternally grateful. 

If you are unable to do so for any reason we would very much appreciate it if you could share this page with friends, family or acquaintances who may be willing and able to make a donation.   

Thank you. 

PS: The name of this fundraising is mine, Marcia Marafon, but the bank details are of my sister Katia C. Marafon.