UPDATE 10 JUNE: Thank you to all of you who have given generously and have spread the word about Cristina. We have great news to report: we have enough money that Cristina has been approved for admission to the hospital to begin her procedure, thanks to your help. Our work may not be done -- Cristina's expenses may increase based on the length of her hospital stay and rehabilitation period, but the largest part of our goal has been reached. Please see Cristina's latest e-mail below for details.

From Cristina:
Thank you for all your support!

The director has approved my admission in the hospital with a payment in advance of 40.000 euros. I have to pay in advance 40.000 euros and the rest of the amount will be calculated based on the expenses during the hospitalization: the length of stay, the medication, the rehabilitation period.

The transplantation procedure will start on the 19th of June and it consists of:

19.06: total body iradiation;
22.06  27/28.06: intense chemotherapy session; Intense chemotherapy and radiation therapy are used to kill my stem cells (cells that make blood and immune cells) and also the cancer cells.
29.06  01.07: my mother s stem cells will be transfused into my blood.
After all these I will stay in the hospital for minimum three weeks, in an izolated room, if luckily everything goes well;
Then for the following three months I will have to stay in Brugge for close supervision of the doctors;

The reason why the tranplant procedure starts only in 10 days  time is because the doctor didn t know for sure if he would have the administration s approval by the 8th of June. And now they started the preparation for the transplant, to order the medication. The payment will be done before the 19th of June.

All the best! Miss you a lot!
Cristina

---

UPDATE 2 JUNE: Thank you to all those who have given generously so far. Things are moving very quickly, and Cristina's situation is becoming increasingly desperate.

Since our last update, Cristina's doctor has advised that, due to the advanced nature of her Leukemia, there would be no point conducting any further chemotherapy. He advised that the stem cell transplant needed to take place by the 8th of June. Left longer, the disease will become more aggressive and Cristina's chances of survival diminish.

The clinic cannot commence this treatment until they have either an official commitment from the Romanian health department, or 50,000 euro up front. Cristina's family has made numerous approaches to the Romanian health department but they are refusing to help. She has raised over 36,000 euro so far, thanks to your support, but this leaves her with the daunting task of raising 14,000 euro in one week.

We again ask all those who can to give generously. If everyone reading this took it upon themselves to raise just 25 euro each, Cristina could have her treatment.

Thank you again for all your support.
Sincerely,
Cristina's friends and family

---

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Thank you to all of you who have donated your time and effort to raise money for Cristina's medical bills. We have received word from Cristina in Belgium that her doctor has made a new recommendation for treatment. She will no longer be receiving more chemotherapy, but will need the stem cell transplant within the next month; this will give her the best chance for survival. The financial consequence of this is that our monetary goal is now far smaller, but needed far faster.

We now need 50,000 Euro to pay for this procedure. Cristina is attempting to apply for Romanian governmental assistance, but it is far from a sure thing. We are so much closer to this goal than to the last -- please consider helping in any way that you can. Thank you.

---

HelpCristina.info is an effort by Cristina Corduneanu's friends, family, and coworkers to raise money for a lifesaving stem-cell transplant operation for Cristina. We hope that you will look at the information on this site, and do what you can to help this amazing young woman who still has so much left to offer the world.

Cristina is currently very ill with leukemia. She has been fighting this disease since she was 21, and it has taken a tragic turn for the worse it recent months. She now urgently needs a stem cell transplant, which is a treatment unavailable in Romania. Her best option is to travel to Belgium for treatment. Unfortunately this will cost between 80,000 and 100,000 euro. Cristina has raised 25,000 euros herself but this still leaves a long way to go.

Many of you know Cristina through her work with FAST, and have experienced her warmth, dedication & love for the children she works with. It is Cristina who takes the children to the doctor when they are sick; it is Cristina who remembers their birthdays. It is Cristina who goes into their homes to make sure their families have what they need to get by.

We ask for your help for Cristina now. It is not just about raising the money for treatment that she desperately needs, it is about a person who gives so much of herself to the world around her knowing that, in her hour of need, the world gives back.

Please contribute anything you can via the button at the top of this page. The button will take you to a Paypal page where you can send money to FAST's account, after which we will transfer it to Cristina immediately. If you prefer wiring money to Cristina and her family yourself, her banking info can be found on the "How to Donate" page (however, this option is much more difficult). We would also greatly appreciate any fund raising initiatives you could start on Cristina’s behalf.

For more information about Cristina, her struggle with leukemia, and about the illness itself, please use the links to the left. To give as many people as possible the chance to see Cristina's story and to help her, we ask that you tell as many people as you can about her and about this website.

Thank you for all your support & prayers.

Cristina's friends, coworkers, and family