Ill Soviet Girls Given Therapy: Day at Disneyland

Eleven-year-old Nina Dgenda never realized children with cancer could still have fun. “It is just so wonderful being here,” she said Friday while waiting to enter Disneyland. “There are so many things to see and do, and all of them are fun.”

In Baranovitshy, a small town in the Soviet Union where Nina lives, doctors determined five years ago that she had cancerous tumors. But with three operations since then, her cancer appears to be in remission.

Nina is one of four Soviet girls ages 11 to 13 who are visiting the United States so Soviet doctors can study American remedies for the loneliness, depression and fear experienced by children with cancer. A trip to Disneyland is among the antidotes.

“We are basically interested in showing our children that good things do happen to you even if you are ill,” said Liana Mikelova, a pediatrician with the Soviet Academy of Medical Sciences. “We want them to go be able to go back and tell other children who are ill that, even with the disease, they can still be children.”

Mikelova and Dr. Lev Durnov, head of Oncology at the Academy of Medical Sciences, arrived in Southern California on Monday. The trip is sponsored by the Soviet government and Camp Ronald McDonald.

“They are very interested in hopefully setting this same type of program up there,” said Dr. Stuart Siegel, medical director for Camp Ronald McDonald. “They feel that treating the psychological and social aspects of the disease are very important.”

The group’s first week included visits to various Southern California attractions. They will spend next week at Camp Ronald McDonald in Santa Monica, where they will take nature walks, canoe rides and will receive a visit from Ronald and Nancy Reagan.