Alla Levushkina, the oldest surgeon in Russia, still performs more than a hundred operations a year. Attitude towards medical examination

Alla Levushkina - surgeon. Her date of birth is 1928! This heroic woman with a big heart is so dedicated to her profession that she still performs surgeries to this day. There are always queues outside her office.

Briefly about the heroine of the article

Just think about it: Alla Levushkina is an 87-year-old surgeon, and a practicing one at that! She is the winner of the highest standard award for a doctor - “Calling”. Needless to say, when she was presented with the award, the huge hall, which could not accommodate everyone, gave her a standing ovation?

And the modest surgeon Alla Ilyinichna Levushkina treated what was happening with indescribable calm. After all, how could it be otherwise? The doctor's task is to treat people well and only in this way. A sense of humor and inexhaustible optimism help in this difficult work.

Before college

Alla's father worked as a forester in the Meshchersky forests.

Alla Levushkina is a surgeon from Ryazan. Her mother at one time worked as a school teacher. She received her education before the revolution, and changes in the country, especially the new ideology, were alien to her. Alla Levushkina (surgeon) recalled that my mother had to change her qualifications: she became a finance worker.

Alla Levushkina (surgeon) had an older brother, whose name was Anatoly (he worked in the poetic field).

Of her entire family, only her aunt was a doctor, but even she did not influence the girl’s choice of profession.

Alla Levushkina (87-year-old surgeon from Ryazan) loved to read as a child. One day she came across the work of Vikenty Vikentyevich Veresaev, “Notes of a Doctor.” After reading the book, she realized that she had to become a doctor. Her decision was greatly influenced by other authors who studied to be a doctor, but preferred the writing field - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov and Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov.

Note that the biography of surgeon Alla Levushkina could have been completely different - a little earlier the girl really wanted to become a famous geologist. Fortunately for all medicine, the magical world of rocks never opened for her.

While studying

In 1946, Alla Levushkina (87-year-old surgeon from Ryazan, as we know, and at that time a seventeen-year-old girl) entered the Second Moscow Institute named after Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (formerly named after Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov). A year earlier, she failed to become a student. Alla had to work during this time at a pedagogical educational institution in her native Ryazan.

Training in the post-war years was quite difficult. The winters were cold, and there was often not enough money for food. Often I had to make a difficult choice between paying for travel and buying a cake. For traveling without a ticket, I even had to visit the local police station. But the duty officer was sympathetic to the situation and released the students in pairs to study the most complex sciences.

It was almost impossible to survive alone in the hostel. The students were friendly and always shared “treasures,” which were sometimes sent by parents and relatives. Everyone was happy with the usual potatoes, tomatoes, and cucumbers. A true holiday was the appearance of meat within the walls of the hostel - pork, beef, or fish of any kind.

Alla Levushkina, a surgeon with extensive experience, knows firsthand how you can prepare several different dishes for several days from just one skinny chicken carcass.

The learning process was very intense and interesting, because the lectures were given by doctors who have been saving people on military fields over the past few years. The teachers' guidance, based on real-life experience, helped. Alla Levushkina (her biography cannot be described in a few sentences on one page) is now happy about this fact, because she was ready for almost any situation immediately after graduating from college.

The first years after college

Alla Ilyinichna Levushkina, a surgeon whose biography will continue to reveal to us facts worthy of respect, continues her studies in distant Tyva. The republic had just joined the Soviet Union, and Russian people in those parts were quite a rare phenomenon.

The promising graduate was predicted to have a brilliant career in the capital, but she turned down Boris Petrovsky himself, the future Minister of Health.

Alla remembered her thirst for adventure and travel, and the young doctor preferred an unknown land to the measured metropolitan life. This was its distribution.

There was more than enough romance in the distant land. The young specialist was sent to the most distant settlements. There were no roads, and often it was necessary to get there on horses, which the doctor loved very much. Already in those years, having just begun her medical practice, Alla Levushkina was a surgeon who could confidently perform complex operations, not to mention the “standard” ones for removing a hernia or appendicitis.

Further work

Five years later, Alla returns to her native Ryazan. And again her life is connected with adventures and travel. As a specialist, she was assigned to the air ambulance.

The total experience of flying helicopters and airplanes of various models exceeded thirty years. The pilots joked that she could take the helm herself and receive badges for her experience and flight hours.

Such is the versatile personality of Alla Levushkina. The biography of a strong woman is full of interesting stories, many of which have accumulated over the years. The most memorable ones were landing in a beautiful clearing to pick flowers and literally jumping into an ambulance over the heads of the wolves.

Levushkina Alla Ilyinichna is a surgeon whose biography was connected with daily flights. But she was very pleased with her work. The most important thing is that she could constantly communicate with new people and personally knew all the doctors in the region.

The general surgeon is not very willing to talk about the fact that there was often not enough time to take the patient to the hospital, and operations had to be carried out in a barn, stable, even in an open field in the rain. The average person cannot understand how great the risk is in this case. But it is all the more pleasant to receive flowers from a rescued and fully recovered patient, who meets his savior after some time with the most sincere words of gratitude.

New direction in work

In the early sixties, there was not a single proctologist in the entire Ryazan region. The work is not prestigious, difficult, very painstaking, and there were simply no people willing to go to study courses. Except, of course, Alla Ilyinichna!

It was not possible to get into training right away. Due to her mother's illness, Alla was forced to refuse a tempting offer. Imagine her surprise when after some time she learned that there were simply no people willing to study in the entire region!

It was an opportunity that was impossible not to take advantage of. Many people dissuaded the girl, believing that this area of medicine was not for her. The decisive factor was the conviction of one of his colleagues, who said that a height of 152 centimeters for a doctor was simply ideal for interventions of this kind.

The main achievement, according to Alla herself, is that many patients who were considered hopeless lived happy lives for another 20-30 years after the operation. This is why it was worth going into the profession.

Modern medicine greatly facilitates the work of a doctor with the presence of complex equipment and a significant number of instruments.

Fifty years ago, doctors performed operations almost by touch. It was truly complex and exquisite work.

Almost seventy years of experience

Over the past year alone, Alla Ilyinichna personally performed more than a hundred operations. On average - one intervention every four days.

The doctor notes that proctology is a very delicate issue, and many people put off visiting a doctor until the last minute.

Thus, situations are provoked in which it is no longer possible to manage only with drug treatment. Advanced cases, especially oncological ones, require urgent surgical intervention. Zero mortality over the past year eloquently shows how great the genius of this kind and very responsible woman is.

Despite her age, Alla Ilyinichna devotes herself entirely to medicine four days a week. This is not a clerical job of filling out cards. The woman actively receives patients who line up at her office from the very early morning, and then performs operations with her own hands. She has a kind word for everyone, regardless of gender, age, marital status or illness.

People's love

Even before the presentation of the honorary award, the doctor was actively recognized on the streets by former patients, their children, friends and relatives. Many smile welcomingly, give flowers, and express words of gratitude. Not without strong hugs and kisses.

One day, a former patient miscalculated and squeezed Alla Ilyinichna with such force that the doctor had to turn to his colleagues about the nagging pain in his side - it was three broken ribs. But the doctor cannot hold a grudge against people because of her kindness, and therefore she has long forgiven the careless boyfriend for the spontaneous outburst of emotions.

Attitude to today's students of medical institutes and universities

Alla Ilyinichna is extremely concerned about the attitude of students towards study and medical practice as such. The woman sadly says that for many yesterday's students, the primary desire is to earn money, and not to help people. All applicants should think about the fact that a doctor is, first of all, a calling, round-the-clock work on oneself, constant self-education and professional development, as well as a great sense of compassion. You need to love people very much to decide to become a doctor.

Attitude towards medical examination

Alla Ilyinichna is sincerely perplexed by the fact that a medical examination is now treated extremely formally, more like an unsubscribe than a real opportunity to identify the problem.

Despite the enormous capabilities of modern medicine, there are many neglected diseases precisely because of negligent attitude to health on the part of both patients and their employers. An experienced doctor encourages everyone to do a timely examination and eliminate problems at the stage when this is most easy to do.

Recognized genius

For almost seventy years of work experience, Alla Ilyinichna never aspired to awards, incentives and leadership positions. Only for a short time did she become the head of the proctology department, but she happily handed over this position to younger and more ambitious colleagues. Filling out a pile of paperwork seems like a useless waste of time for her, during which a hidden disease could be diagnosed.

The big award didn't come as much of a surprise. The doctor took this news philosophically. The only thing Alla Ilyinichna was worried about was how she, so tiny and fragile, could carry a huge figurine and a heavy folder.

Fortunately, there were enough people willing to help the honored specialist. Good people helped a good person. As, indeed, always.

Conclusion

Helping people is not Alla Ilyinichna’s only calling. The courageous woman keeps many animals - cats, dogs. Of course, everything was picked up on the streets. Hungry, cold, sick. Only thanks to caring hands can they still enjoy the white light.

Alla Ilyinichna also takes care of birds. The birds have already memorized the location of the famous surgeon's windows and are eagerly awaiting the onset of lunch hour.

Of course, tomorrow is a new working day! What kind of pension can there be when there is still so much work?!

In our column we talk about people of very advanced age, who, however, have not lost their taste for life, whose activity young people can envy. Today in the column the person is simply unique. Recently, a doctor from Ryazan, Alla Levushkina, received the prestigious medical award “Recognition”. She has been recognized in her homeland for a long time: 87-year-old Levushkina is a well-known surgeon in the city, who still stands at the operating table almost every day.

“I stood on a stand and operated”

Alla Levushkina has been operating for more than half a century. She went into medicine under the impression of Veresaev’s “Notes of a Doctor”, easily entered the main medical university of the country - the Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, and returned to Ryazan with a diploma to treat thyroid diseases.

“One day a referral came to our hospital for proctology courses,” recalls Alla Ilyinichna. “At that time, this industry was not developed; they did not know how to treat hemorrhoids, not to mention serious illnesses. I became interested, but couldn’t go: dad died, mom was ill, and she needed my care.

A few months later, it turned out that the referral went to all Ryazan hospitals three times, but Levushkina’s colleagues considered proctology a non-prestigious matter and ignored the Moscow courses.

“Then I realized: this is fate,” she says.

The regional health department began to dissuade Dr. Lyovushkina, held a discussion, and could not come to a common opinion.

– Until one doctor said: “Look how tall she is.” All she needs to do is proctology,” says Levushkina, whose height is really only 150 cm, with a laugh. She is generally a grandmother with humor - she jokes a lot, often about herself.

After the courses, Alla Ilyinichna received patients at the clinic, performed operations in the hospital, and also worked in an air ambulance.

“I really liked this work; doctors from the region were called, as a rule, for complex cases,” she says. “I flew in, stood on a stand by the table and operated.

“I didn’t even notice the pension”

When retirement age arrived, Alla Ilyinichna didn’t even notice. She continued, as before, to operate and fly around the region. True, I had to give up my position as head of the proctology department to a young colleague, but Levushkina says that there are no regrets - the main thing is that she didn’t have to give the scalpel to anyone.

Now she is 87 years old, and she still works, although not at two rates, as before, but “only” at one. Dr. Levushkina’s working day begins at 8 am with the appointment of patients at the clinic. After 11 she goes to the hospital to have operations. Alla Ilyinichna has four operating days a week, and up to 150 operations a year. Assistant surgeon Vladimir Dobrovolsky helps her with this.

“We need to learn from Alla Ilyinichna,” he says. - Age? He has nothing to do with it when his head thinks.

Levushkina herself assists her colleagues in complex operations.

“There can be no “I” in our work,” she explains. – “I did”, “I carried out” - this is wrong. During abdominal surgeries, which last 2–3 hours, I work only as an assistant. It’s already hard to stand over the table for several hours.

A doctor operating in his ninth decade will frighten someone: after all, this is jewelry work, where the main thing is the precision of the hands. But colleagues assure that Levushkina’s hand is firm and precise, and she has so much experience that young surgeons can hardly stand next to her.

“All people have anatomical features,” explains Alexander Motin, head of the 1st surgical department of hospital No. 11, where Lyovushkina works. – Alla Ilyinichna has seen so many people in her lifetime that she knows how to act in any situation.

Patients go to Dr. Levushkina all the time, sometimes they come up for a consultation right on the street - she doesn’t refuse. Word of mouth works best with doctors, and Levushkina has put more than one generation of Ryazan residents on their feet.

At the same time, she says that there are things that are beyond her control: “You never know how the recovery will go and what will happen to the patient.” Therefore, Levushkina believes in God and believes that everything is in his power. The issue is controversial, but many doctors are believers.

“We’ll talk now, and I’ll go to church and light a candle for the patient.” I used to be a fatalist, I believed in fate, but then I realized: this is not fate, but God.

Alla Levushkina with a patient / Andrey Strunin

“The yard breed is my favorite”

Levushkina lives in a one-room apartment, which she shares with eight cats. She has her own secret of how not to suffer from loneliness and uselessness: she simply has no time. When Alla Ilyinichna is not at work, she takes care of her disabled nephew. If she is busy, she calls a nurse, whose work she pays for. At home you need to feed and clean up after cats. Outside her window hangs a feeder full of seeds and millet, and she always has a piece of sausage in her bag. Doctor Levushkina knows every stray Murka, every homeless Sharik in the area.

“The yard breed is my favorite,” she smiles. “Everyone wants purebred dogs, but I like mongrels.”

Alla Ilyinichna has lived by one principle for many years: she goes to bed late, gets up early, thinks less about herself, and more about others. She doesn’t have any miraculous nutritional systems, except perhaps one principle: food must be thoroughly chewed.

“I’m not a fan of diets,” she says. – When I’m not fasting, I can eat barbecue and pork.

She is, of course, unique, but, like everyone else at that age, at times she feels unwell - her blood pressure rises, her joints hurt, and she gets colds. Lyovushkina tries not to get hung up on it - she takes a pill and runs to work. Colleagues are not surprised. They say she has always been like this - stubborn, precise, obligatory. The man is 87 years old, but has so much strength that it will be enough for more than one hundred operations. The head works, the hand is strong, and what else does a surgeon need?

The oldest surgeon in Russia, Alla Ilyinichna Levushkina, is 87 years old! He still performs more than a hundred operations a year with zero mortality.

For this, 87-year-old Alla Levushkina was awarded the “Calling” prize in the nomination “For fidelity to the profession.”

About the “Vocation” Award “Recently they presented an award to the best doctors in Russia. The “Vocation” Award.” I was awarded for loyalty to the profession. They presented me with a statuette, a large one - in the form of hands with a crystal. I was afraid that I would not be able to hold it, it looked very heavy. I told the men who were sitting next to me about this, they came with me. Among them was Onishchenko, the chief sanitary doctor of Russia, he went upstairs and took this thing, helped me carry it. I was greeted with such applause that I could be stunned. "Frank, I'm very pleased, but I'm already tired of congratulations. Now people recognize me on the street, they say a lot of kind words, but this makes me feel embarrassed, I want to live calmly, like other people, and do my job."

Alla Ilyinichna has been faithful to her profession for 63 years. “Actually, I wanted to become a geologist - I like the outdoor life, the difficulties, the obstacles. But then I read Veresaev’s “Notes of a Doctor” and decided to go to medical school - she was a very romantic young lady. In 1945, the competition for the Second Moscow Medical Institute named after Stalin was huge , which spurred me on even more. They told me: “Well, where are you going, village,” but I decided: I’ll take a risk.” Levushkina speaks briefly about her first student years:

"We were starving, that's all." Students were given food stamps, but what kind of food was there? Soup was just water. But once a month, students at the medical institute were given a bottle of alcohol, and with this alcohol everyone ran to the market; half a liter could be exchanged for a loaf of bread. “We survived only because we ate together in the hostel. My parents, although they themselves were malnourished, sent some potatoes from our Ryazan village. They gave lard and cereal to other students. And so they held on. I remember one girl was brought a huge bream. This "It was something incredible! We ate this magnificent fish for a week, and also made soup from the bones that had been gnawed to a shine."

In her native Ryazan, the young surgeon began working in the air ambulance. “The old doctors didn’t want to fly around the region in helicopters, they sent me: “Daughter, come on, fly.” So I flew for 30 years, all on assignment, as if I were the youngest. Then the pilots were given special badges for flying hours, and they joked, that it’s time for me to get such a badge too - it’s a joke, there are so many hours in the sky. But I liked this work. Previously, they operated in regional hospitals, and we, regional surgeons, were called in for the most difficult cases. There were times when I even sewed up the chest in a barn : a crossbow in the lung, everything fell out, it was impossible to transport the patient. Nothing, he survived. And one day we were met in the village by wolves - the pilot didn’t want to land, he was afraid: “They’ll eat you, doctor!” And I shouted: “Sit down! Let's try!" And nothing happened, the car quickly pulled up, and I jumped over there." “By the way, proctology is one of the most complex areas in surgery,” says Levushkina. “Now there are a lot of instruments, but before everything was done by hand, it was jewelry work. There weren’t enough specialists; you can barely find proctologist surgeons in all of Russia.” There was no way to count it - well, there was no one willing to operate on this part of the body. It was considered that this was a dirty and too complicated matter. So, of course, I was excited when we received a “ticket” for proctology courses. “Send me!” I told my bosses. And they also held a meeting, they had doubts, despite the fact that there was not a single proctologist surgeon in the Ryazan region. But then one doctor put forward an argument: “Look, Levushkina’s height is suitable: one and a half meters. All she can do is proctology."

Alla Ilyinichna is still operating - in the clinic there is a queue for her to be examined, and in the 11th city hospital of Ryazan there is a queue for the residents, everyone is waiting for Levushkina. “Patients simply overwhelm me. Everyone comes to me for surgery. Why? Ask them.” We ask. Nina, a resident of Ryazan, is undergoing surgery today: “I only wanted to see Alla Ilyinichna. She has such experience, people praise her so much.” Nina is nervous, she even shakes with horror. “What are you afraid of?” An 87-year-old surgeon bends over the operating table. “Why are you trembling? There’s only half an hour to do, now you’ll fall asleep, rest, and wake up without your problem. Smile!” Nina is given anesthesia, and a special chair on wheels is rolled up to Alla Ilyinichna: “The carriage has arrived!” “You will call your article “Grandma with a Spark,” assistant surgeon Vladimir Dobrynin jokes and then seriously adds: “Don’t look how old Alla Ilyinichna is. Her hand is still strong. And we perform 150 operations a year with her.” "This year and last year the mortality rate is zero." In proctology, indications for surgical intervention are often very advanced cases, often associated with oncology, and “zero mortality” is an excellent indicator. That’s why Levushkina has been recognized on the streets for more than half a century; they come up to her: “You don’t remember me, but I’m fine, I’m alive,” they thank me. “Many people kiss me. I’m little, it doesn’t cost anything to kiss me or hug me. One came up: “Wow, my dear!” and hugged me like a kitten. Then I couldn’t breathe. It turned out that I had broken a rib.” Doctors are given gifts, not without this. “They used to give crystal and sweets. I had a whole closet filled with “Red Moscow”. Recently they gave me a rabbit - they said that they had killed it especially for me. I’m a hypocrite, I eat meat, but I can’t eat someone who was killed for me, so I called to my niece: “Take the rabbit." And about 30 years ago, our first secretary’s cook, she had oncology, sent her husband with a bag of canned food, meat, cheese. My brother then came to visit me, opened the refrigerator and was stunned: “Well, you live “And the cook, by the way, is still working hard, I saw her recently.” She prays for them every morning - for her sick. “I became a believer a long time ago, at about 60 years old. Before that, I was a convinced atheist; from my college days I was seriously interested in philosophy, reading the works of Hegel. But I was confused by Marxism-Leninism, which claims that absolute truth is not knowable. A strange statement for materialists. I became to think: what then is absolute truth? So I came to faith. I go to church, I pray morning and evening in my own words: for my sick, especially the most difficult ones, for my relatives, for myself, so that I can hold out a little longer... Why am I still working? Firstly, it’s very interesting: to win, to cure. I had absolutely miraculous healings. I remember a young woman with a tumor of the rectum - everything was inoperable. But I’m brave, and no one but me took it on. I operated on her, and she got better - how, why? Many years have already passed, this patient lives, her children have already grown up... And I also have to work to feed my own. I don’t have children, I’ve never been married, but I have a disabled nephew - I support him, and he has seven more cats in his care, and I also have seven of my own." She lists the pets: "Gosh, Son, Lapa , Lada, Chernyshka, Dymka... The old cat just gave birth to one kitten, and I prescribed her enhanced nutrition. In the morning I give everyone pollock with noodles, when I leave, I finely chop the doctor’s sausage - they don’t eat anything else. I buy them special bags containing food, canned food, and litter. The cats alone cost 200-300 rubles a day. But I also feed the yard cats and dogs... So you ask how to stay active in such years. But I have no other choice, I will earn money for the rest of my life. There are the birds outside the window - I see that they are hungry, the feeder is empty again in the morning, which means I need to buy food, which means I need money again." She smiles, and it immediately becomes clear what she looked like as a child. "Is it possible to feed everyone birds in the world?” we ask, and she, continuing to smile, answers quite philosophically: “But you can try.”

At 87 years old, Alla Levushkina still performs operations and is therefore the oldest surgeon in Russia. Every year, the elderly woman performs more than 100 operations, for which she received the “Vocation” award in the “For Fidelity to the Profession” category.

The surgeon herself says that she takes on even inoperable patients for surgery and has practically no free time. She spends all day in the hospital, and in the evenings she reads books, surrounded by her cats. Alla Levushkina has not discovered the secret of longevity for herself; she eats everything, often cries and laughs.

From an interview with Alla Levushkina:

Alla Ilyinichna has been faithful to her profession for 63 years.

Levushkina works as a proctologist surgeon.

“By the way, proctology is one of the most difficult areas in surgery,” says Levushkina. “Now there are a lot of tools, but before, everything was done by hand, it was jewelry work. So, of course, I was excited when we received a “ticket” for proctology courses. "Send me away!" - I tell the bosses. And they also organized a meeting, they doubted it, despite the fact that there was not a single proctologist surgeon in the Ryazan region. But then one doctor put forward an argument: “Look, Levushkina’s height is suitable: one and a half meters. All she can do is proctology.

Assistant surgeon Vladimir Dobrynin says: “Don’t look at how old Alla Ilyinichna is.” Her hand is still strong. And she and I perform 150 operations a year. This year and last year there was zero mortality.” In proctology, indications for surgical intervention are often very advanced cases, often associated with oncology, and “zero mortality” is an excellent indicator.

Why am I still working?

Firstly, it’s very interesting: to win, to cure. I had absolutely miraculous healings. I remember a young woman with a tumor of the rectum - everything was inoperable. But I’m brave, and no one but me took it on. I operated on her, and she got better - how, why? Many years have already passed, this patient lives, her children have already grown up... And I also need to work to feed my own. I don’t have children, I’ve never been married, but I have a disabled nephew - I support him, and he has seven more cats in his care, and I also have seven of my own.”

She lists the pets: “Gosha, Son, Lapa, Lada, Chernyshka, Dymka... The old cat just gave birth to one kitten, and I prescribed her enhanced nutrition. In the morning I give everyone pollock with noodles, when I leave, I finely chop the doctor’s sausage - they don’t eat anything else. I buy them special bags containing food, canned food, and litter. The cats alone cost 200-300 rubles a day. But I also feed the yard cats and dogs... So you ask how to stay active in such years. But I have no other choice, I will earn money for the rest of my life. There are the birds outside the window - I see that they are hungry, the feeder is empty again in the morning, which means we need to buy food, which means we need money again.”

She smiles, and it immediately becomes clear what she looked like as a child. “Is it possible to feed all the birds in the world?” - we ask, and she, continuing to smile, answers quite philosophically: “But you can try.”

Levushkina works as a proctologist surgeon.
"By the way, proctology is one of the most complex areas in surgery, says Levushkina. Nowadays there are a lot of tools, but before, everything was done by hand, it was jewelry work. Therefore, of course, I was excited when we received a “ticket” for proctology courses. "Send me away!" - I tell the bosses. And they also organized a meeting, they doubted it, despite the fact that there was not a single proctologist surgeon in the Ryazan region. But then one doctor put forward an argument: “Look, Levushkina’s height is suitable: one and a half meters. All she can do is proctology.
Alla Ilyinichna is still operating - in the clinic there is a queue for her to be examined, and in the 11th city hospital of Ryazan there is a queue for the residents, everyone is waiting for Levushkina.
Assistant surgeon Vladimir Dobrynin says: - Don’t you look how old Alla Ilyinichna is. Her hand is still strong. And she and I perform 150 operations a year. This year and last year, the mortality rate is zero." In proctology, indications for surgical intervention are often very advanced cases, often associated with oncology, and "zero mortality" is an excellent indicator.

Why am I still working?

Firstly, it’s very interesting: to win, to cure. I had absolutely miraculous healings. I remember a young woman with a tumor of the rectum - everything was inoperable. But I’m brave, and no one but me took it on. I operated on her, and she got better - how, why? Many years have already passed, this patient lives, her children have already grown up... And I also have to work to feed my own. I don’t have children, I’ve never been married, but I have a disabled nephew - I support him, and he has seven more cats in his care, and I also have seven of my own.”

She lists her pets: “Gosha, Son, Lapa, Lada, Chernyshka, Dymka... The old cat just gave birth to one kitten, and I prescribed her enhanced nutrition. In the morning I give everyone pollock with noodles, when I leave, I cut finely the doctor’s sausage - they don’t eat anything else. I buy them special bags of food, canned food, filler. The cats alone cost 200-300 rubles a day. But I also feed the yard cats and dogs... So you ask how to stay active in such years. But I have another choice no, I will earn money for the rest of my life. There are birds outside the window - I see that they are hungry, the feeder is empty again in the morning, which means I need to buy food, which means I need money again."
She smiles, and it immediately becomes clear what she looked like as a child. “Is it possible to feed all the birds in the world?”- we ask, and she, continuing to smile, answers quite philosophically: "But we can try." (With)