More good news on Ivan Nikitin!

Yesterday, I got an email and some fresh pictures from a happy Andrii Nikitin, Ivan’s father. He met with a Danish doctor last week, and it seems as if everything is ready for Ivan and the rest of the family to move from the German clinic to Denmark at the end of November. The Nikitin family is settling down in Denmark and Andrii is already employed by Sun Microsystems Denmark.

Andrii, the proud father, says Ivan looks like any boy now. Sure, Ivan still gets tired a bit faster than other boys his age, and sometimes, he has a small nose bleed. However, the Nikitin family is now able to live as most families do.

The generous donations by the MySQL community and Sun employees were enough to cover the expert treatment Ivan got in Germany. It wouldn’t have covered a transplantation, but it looks increasingly unlikely that one will be needed. The Nikitins and all MySQL guys at Sun are very, very grateful for the donations.

So to sum it up: Ivan Nikitin’s future is painted in much brighter colours than ever before!

Good news: Ivan Nikitin is feeling better all the time. He has gone through insightful treatment in Heidelberg, and he is responding very well to it. The best part is that while the donations aren’t yet sufficient for a transplantation, it does look as if a transplantation may not even be necessary; the German doctors give Ivan’s body a chance to regenerate by itself, and it worked. And the generous donations from MySQLers, from classic Sun employees and also from the MySQL user community have made Ivan’s treatment in Heidelberg possible, something for which we are all very grateful.

Ivan Nikitin in Georg Richter’s lap (in Georg’s boat)

Ivan’s father Andrii allowed me to publicly quote his email to MySQL employees:

Hello MySQLers,

Ivan’s condition goes with most optimal scenario - doctors think he will not require transplantation because he provides positive answer to treatment from German doctors. Ivan’s state is better with every day since August, but to be sure doctors suggest that we should visit Heidelberg clinic for 5-6 weeks (hopefully not more).

Ivan is allowed to do whatever he wants so he enjoys running, shouting, singing, playing, (even swimming), etc. This is very unusual and happy time for us after 9 months in Kiev clinic with heavy medicine where he was allowed to go outside and see parents just couple times per week.

So we are very happy family now! I am sure this is because so many people think and care about us! Thanks everybody for donations and support! Many thanks to Georg who is helping us all the time and especially for arrangement of our arrival to Heidelberg!

Andrii, Alice, Ivan, Artem

A cropped version of the above, with just Georg and Ivan

I don’t yet have an update about the financials, i.e. how much money has been collected, and how much is needed by his treatment. I hope to fill you in on those things in my next Ivan blog entry.

But in the meantime, I’m very happy to share this good news!

Here’s an update on Ivan’s status, both from a medical and contributions perspective. Three days ago, I wrote that Ivan has arrived in Germany. Instead of posting all my news on Ivan as new posting each time, I will at irregular intervals keep this page up to date.

Andrii, Ivan and the rest of the family have now started settling in in Heidelberg. Georg Richter has found an apartment for them close to the hospital, and they will move there in a few days.

The first round of tests and examinations (blood tests, bone marrow punctation) has been concluded, but I won’t share any speculations on this until we’ve got them confirmed. The examinations will continue, and the best case scenario is that a transplant could happen 8 - 10 weeks from now.

Currently donations for Ivan are at about EUR 90,000. Most of it comes from Sun Dolphins (former MySQLers) and to some extent from Sun Classic employees. And more than 25% represent donations from the MySQL Community! Thanks everyone! The German clinic expects at least an additional EUR 150,000 to be needed, though, so I encourge those of you who haven’t contributed yet to press the “Donate” button at the end of the article on our official Ivan page.

Links:

• http://www.mysql.com/about/help-ivan.html
• http://blogs.mysql.com/kaj/2008/07/21/ivan-nikitin-has-arrived-in-germany/
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_marrow#Donation_and_transplantation_of_bone_marrow
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematopoietic_stem_cell_transplantation

Andrii Nikitin, his wife and their kids arrived in Germany today. Fellow MySQL Support Engineer Axel Schwenke gave them a ride from the airport to Heidelberg, where Ivan had his first medical checkup at the University Hospital.

Georg Richter has organised an apartment for the first days - until they get some furniture for the final one.

From what can be seen, they all do fine. About Ivan - that remains to be seen.

Footnote from our request to donate to help Andrii Nikitin’s son Ivan:

Donations are requested to help Andrii Nikitin, a MySQL support engineer in Ukraine, provide for his son Ivan who requires a bone marrow transplant operation. The cost of this operation is expected to be between €150,000 - €250,000 ($235,000 - $400,000). Please help us provide Ivan a chance to live.

Yes, you can still help!

Link:

• http://www.mysql.com/about/help-ivan.html