Today, we would like to introduce you to Zhumagazy kyzy Bagynur, head of the Oncohematology Department of the National Centre for Maternal and Child Health. This doctor fights for the lives of our sons and daughters. 

- Why did you decide to become a paediatric oncologist? Why this specialisation?

- I always knew I would go to medical school. My initial goal was to become a paediatric neurologist. In the 4th year, we started a cycle of neurology, and I didn't like it. I was not interested. And from that moment, I began to think about where to move on. After all, in 2 years, I was finishing my studies, and I had to decide. In the 6th year, we started to study oncology. And at first, of course, I felt very sorry for the children. There were questions about the injustice of "why such little ones get such serious diseases". I delved deeper into this issue and started to read a lot of literature on the subject. At some point, I realised I could bring value to this field. Many people study adult oncology, but only a few go into paediatric oncology. Emotionally, it is still hard. Some, having chosen paediatric oncology as a speciality, even after the internship, try to transfer to adult oncology. 

- What types of cancer are most common for children?

- These are leukaemia, brain tumours, lymphomas, and neuroblastomas, which are characteristic of childhood (They also occur in adults, but not so often).

- Now there is a lot of information on the Internet. Some parents, having read scary articles, begin to overexamine their children and see signs of oncology in every ailment. What really should alert the parent to the well-being of the child?  And to what doctor should we turn in this case? 

- It is necessary to be alert in case of prolonged fever, if the child loses weight sharply when he suddenly becomes pale or loses consciousness, with enlarged lymph nodes. The first thing to do is to go to the paediatrician and take a general blood test. According to the results of this analysis, you can already understand a lot. Sometimes, the disease is detected accidentally. For example, a mother of a child came to us recently. He had a small atheroma. The mother decided to remove it while they were in Bishkek. Before removing the atheroma, they took a general blood test, and we found blast cells. The child felt normal. 

- Where do you get your strength and energy not to burn out in this complicated profession?

- Now, we have our department, a building in good condition. It allows us to move forward. And the children themselves give me strength when I see the results of my work. We keep in touch with many children after they go into remission. Some of them come back from time to time. They visit us, for example, on the Day of the Child with Cancer. Some parents send photos of their children growing up, sharing their achievements.

As in any state institution, the planned funding is insufficient to cover all the hospital's needs. Lack of trivial consumables arises- syringes, systems, bandages, and saline solution. Sometimes, we lack chemopreparations, expensive analyses and examinations, which can save the lives of our children.

The Time to Help Foundation's programme works to help more boys and girls beat cancer.