Tweet
CLEVELAND COMMUNITY RALLIES AROUND TEEN FROM ARMENIA SUFFERING FROM LEUKEMIA
COMMUNITY | AUGUST 6, 2013 4:11 PM
________________________________
Funds Desperately Needed for Costly Treatments
By Alin K. Gregorian
Mirror-Spectator Staff
CLEVELAND - When one thinks of a major Armenian community in the US,
certainly Glendale, Fresno and Watertown come to mind. However, it
seems when it comes to the true meaning of community, the folks in
Cleveland make up for their small size with their generous hearts.
The community, through St. Gregory of Narek Church and its pastor, Fr.
Hratch Sargsyan, is rallying around Stella Arakelyan, 17, a leukemia
patient from Armenia has been receiving care at the Cleveland Clinic
since May. Stella is accompanied by her mother, Iren.
In a letter to the Mirror-Spectator, she wrote, "Four days before
her prom in Yerevan, Armenia, she was diagnosed with Philadelphia
Chromosome Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This diagnosis came
as a shock to her family and friends and herself. At the tender age
of 10 she had already been diagnosed with another life-threatening
disease - diabetes. Stella had endured her illness with extraordinary
strength and maturity, but this new blow and the terrifying diagnosis
of cancer has put a stop to her dreams."
Iren Arakelyan, speaking by phone from Cleveland, praised the community
for its warmth and support in this trying time.
Speaking in Armenian, she said, "I have no relatives here, no one or
nothing. Now I feel I am surrounded by people who are all dear to me
and my child. There are such good people here in Cleveland. They are
all taking care of me."
Stella Arakelyan goes into Cleveland Clinic for monthly chemotherapy
treatments, her mother said. This month was the third such treatment,
the last part of a three-month cycle.
The results after this last round will be analyzed at the end of
August, at which time, the next course of action will be determined.
Iren Arakelyan, herself a physician as is her husband, Levon, said
that there is about an 80-percent chance that their daughter will
require a bone marrow transplant.
"It is very difficult," Iren Arakelyan said. "Still, we are fighting
it. Stella is an excellent student. She wants to go to medical school
too and become a doctor," said her mother. "She is very beautiful
and smart. We are fighting with God's help. We have no choice."
According to the church website, despite the deep discounts Cleveland
Clinic has given the young patient, the cost of the treatment is
exorbitant, hovering around $500,000 now and expected to rise if
there is the need for a bone marrow transplant.
"We are in the process of initiating a campaign to gather some funds
from charitable organizations, however Stella and her mother who are
now living in the St. Gregory of Narek parish house are trying to cut
even on their daily expenses to save for the treatment. Their needs are
not only monetary but spiritual and moral," read the church's website.
The Armenian-born Sargsyan took the helm of St. Gregory of Narek Church
in 2011, after short stints at St. John Armenian Church of Southfield,
Mich. under the guidance of its pastor, the Rev. Garabed Kochakian,
and St. Sahag Armenian Church in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
Sargsyan has opened the doors of the parish house to the Arakelyans
and parishioners take turns hosting the family, cooking for them or
transporting them.
"We mainly try to support them morally and with our prayers," Sargysan
said. "We don't give up hope."
He added, "I feel joyful to see a challenging situation in which
fellow Christians and fellow Armenians all come together. Half a
million dollars will be hard to raise but for some reason, I don't
lose faith. We need to find those generous people."
He continued, "It is sad and difficult when I go to the hospital
to visit Stella. I just visited her today," but, he added, she is
responding well to treatment.
In a statement, Iren Arakelyan wrote, "Father Hratch Sargsyan, the
spiritual leader of the community, is responsible for our free lodging
adjacent to the church and for the invaluable moral support to our
family. The benevolence, the atmosphere of constant care and material
support has created an ambience of being surrounded by family. Stella
is on the very beginning of her path to recovery and the amazing
warmth and moral support she is getting from the Armenian community
has an immense effect on the success of the healing process. There
are no words with which I can express my heartfelt gratitude to the
people who have become the pillar of our strength in these few first
days. On behalf of my family, I want to thank all who are supporting
us with their Christian generosity of spirit in this difficult time."
Dr. Gevog Yaghjyan, a fellow physician in Armenia who works at
Yerevan's University Hospital N1 with Stella's parents, got a call
from colleague Dr. Bella Grigorian, a neurologist in same hospital,
asking for help for the young girl. "I told Bella the truth; the only
place where they can get not a cutting age treatment and support of
Armenian community will be in Cleveland. On May 23 I got the latest
lab results from Iren by e-mail and called Dr. Rafi Avitsian with
the question, 'can we help this family. They need our help.' Rafi's
reaction was 'Send all the results immediately.'"
Through Avitsian's coordination with the Cleveland Clinic International
Department, all the paperwork and visa applications were completed
in two days.
Donations for Stella Arakelyan can be made via
http://www.stgregoryofnarek.org/news/we-need-your-help/ or checks
can be mailed to St. Gregory of Narek Church, 678 Richmond Rd.,
Richmond Heights, OH 44143. Make checks payable to St. Gregory of
Narek, memo line: Stella Arakelyan.
Sargysan stressed that if anyone is interested in contacting him
about the case, he would be happy to speak to them at 440-264-3541
or [email protected].
There is also Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/HelpForStellaAraqelyan.
- See more at:
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2013/08/06/cleveland-community-rallies-around-teen-from-armenia-suffering-from-leukemia/#sthash.gg47RIrc.dpuf
COMMUNITY | AUGUST 6, 2013 4:11 PM
________________________________
Funds Desperately Needed for Costly Treatments
By Alin K. Gregorian
Mirror-Spectator Staff
CLEVELAND - When one thinks of a major Armenian community in the US,
certainly Glendale, Fresno and Watertown come to mind. However, it
seems when it comes to the true meaning of community, the folks in
Cleveland make up for their small size with their generous hearts.
The community, through St. Gregory of Narek Church and its pastor, Fr.
Hratch Sargsyan, is rallying around Stella Arakelyan, 17, a leukemia
patient from Armenia has been receiving care at the Cleveland Clinic
since May. Stella is accompanied by her mother, Iren.
In a letter to the Mirror-Spectator, she wrote, "Four days before
her prom in Yerevan, Armenia, she was diagnosed with Philadelphia
Chromosome Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This diagnosis came
as a shock to her family and friends and herself. At the tender age
of 10 she had already been diagnosed with another life-threatening
disease - diabetes. Stella had endured her illness with extraordinary
strength and maturity, but this new blow and the terrifying diagnosis
of cancer has put a stop to her dreams."
Iren Arakelyan, speaking by phone from Cleveland, praised the community
for its warmth and support in this trying time.
Speaking in Armenian, she said, "I have no relatives here, no one or
nothing. Now I feel I am surrounded by people who are all dear to me
and my child. There are such good people here in Cleveland. They are
all taking care of me."
Stella Arakelyan goes into Cleveland Clinic for monthly chemotherapy
treatments, her mother said. This month was the third such treatment,
the last part of a three-month cycle.
The results after this last round will be analyzed at the end of
August, at which time, the next course of action will be determined.
Iren Arakelyan, herself a physician as is her husband, Levon, said
that there is about an 80-percent chance that their daughter will
require a bone marrow transplant.
"It is very difficult," Iren Arakelyan said. "Still, we are fighting
it. Stella is an excellent student. She wants to go to medical school
too and become a doctor," said her mother. "She is very beautiful
and smart. We are fighting with God's help. We have no choice."
According to the church website, despite the deep discounts Cleveland
Clinic has given the young patient, the cost of the treatment is
exorbitant, hovering around $500,000 now and expected to rise if
there is the need for a bone marrow transplant.
"We are in the process of initiating a campaign to gather some funds
from charitable organizations, however Stella and her mother who are
now living in the St. Gregory of Narek parish house are trying to cut
even on their daily expenses to save for the treatment. Their needs are
not only monetary but spiritual and moral," read the church's website.
The Armenian-born Sargsyan took the helm of St. Gregory of Narek Church
in 2011, after short stints at St. John Armenian Church of Southfield,
Mich. under the guidance of its pastor, the Rev. Garabed Kochakian,
and St. Sahag Armenian Church in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
Sargsyan has opened the doors of the parish house to the Arakelyans
and parishioners take turns hosting the family, cooking for them or
transporting them.
"We mainly try to support them morally and with our prayers," Sargysan
said. "We don't give up hope."
He added, "I feel joyful to see a challenging situation in which
fellow Christians and fellow Armenians all come together. Half a
million dollars will be hard to raise but for some reason, I don't
lose faith. We need to find those generous people."
He continued, "It is sad and difficult when I go to the hospital
to visit Stella. I just visited her today," but, he added, she is
responding well to treatment.
In a statement, Iren Arakelyan wrote, "Father Hratch Sargsyan, the
spiritual leader of the community, is responsible for our free lodging
adjacent to the church and for the invaluable moral support to our
family. The benevolence, the atmosphere of constant care and material
support has created an ambience of being surrounded by family. Stella
is on the very beginning of her path to recovery and the amazing
warmth and moral support she is getting from the Armenian community
has an immense effect on the success of the healing process. There
are no words with which I can express my heartfelt gratitude to the
people who have become the pillar of our strength in these few first
days. On behalf of my family, I want to thank all who are supporting
us with their Christian generosity of spirit in this difficult time."
Dr. Gevog Yaghjyan, a fellow physician in Armenia who works at
Yerevan's University Hospital N1 with Stella's parents, got a call
from colleague Dr. Bella Grigorian, a neurologist in same hospital,
asking for help for the young girl. "I told Bella the truth; the only
place where they can get not a cutting age treatment and support of
Armenian community will be in Cleveland. On May 23 I got the latest
lab results from Iren by e-mail and called Dr. Rafi Avitsian with
the question, 'can we help this family. They need our help.' Rafi's
reaction was 'Send all the results immediately.'"
Through Avitsian's coordination with the Cleveland Clinic International
Department, all the paperwork and visa applications were completed
in two days.
Donations for Stella Arakelyan can be made via
http://www.stgregoryofnarek.org/news/we-need-your-help/ or checks
can be mailed to St. Gregory of Narek Church, 678 Richmond Rd.,
Richmond Heights, OH 44143. Make checks payable to St. Gregory of
Narek, memo line: Stella Arakelyan.
Sargysan stressed that if anyone is interested in contacting him
about the case, he would be happy to speak to them at 440-264-3541
or [email protected].
There is also Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/HelpForStellaAraqelyan.
- See more at:
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2013/08/06/cleveland-community-rallies-around-teen-from-armenia-suffering-from-leukemia/#sthash.gg47RIrc.dpuf