Home \ Initiatives \ Providing Medical Support

January 2005 Madumekala on right with another 11 year old friend		January 2007 The same two girls

In January 2005, Madumekala Udayawanthi was an 11-year-old girl with the height of a 3-year-old (100cm = 39.37 inches) when she was first introduced to us in February 2005 at the Children’s clinic in the Mawella camp in Sri Lanka. At the age of three years, she had been hit by a bus and was in a coma for a long time. Her pituitary gland ended up being severely damaged because of this trauma. At the age of eight years, Madumekala was diagnosed with panhypopituitarism.

FYI: The pituitary gland is called the master endocrine gland of the body because it controls function over other endocrine organs. The anterior pituitary produces the hormones thyrotropin (thyroid-stimulating hormone [TSH]), corticotropin (adrenocorticotropin [ACTH]), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), growth hormone (GH), and prolactin (PRL). The anterior pituitary is controlled by specific hypothalamic-releasing hormones. The posterior pituitary produces vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone [ADH]) and oxytocin.

Panhypopituitarism is a condition of inadequate or absent production of the anterior pituitary hormones. The signs and symptoms are diverse. Manifestations of anterior hypopituitarism include hypoglycemia and poor growth.

Making a Huge Difference
Michael Lear
July 20, 2008

In 2005 Real Medicine’s Dr. Martina Fuchs initiated a growth hormone program to support Madumekala, a young girl of the age of 10 suffering from Panhypopituitarism. The success of this program has not only meant dramatic changes for Madumekala, below, whose growth now is more in line with her age, but also for many other children across the country who have been identified with similar conditions and are receiving treatment. For more information on this program or to sponsor a child, please visit our Ruhuna Medical College Growth Hormone Program Summary by clicking here.

Update: January 28, 2007
By Minerva Fernando in Sri Lanka

Madumekala is now a charming little girl. She always has a pleasant smile on her face. She is starting to look healthy and tall. She visited the clinic at Karapitiya in Galle on the 11th of January. She will visit the clinic again on the 29th of this month. The efforts of Prof. Sujeewa Amarasena, Madumekala's Medical Consultant, are successful, including her regular visits and the continuous treatment. Prof. Sujeewa is very much pleased and satisfied with her progress. Madumekala attends the school and she is now in seventh grade. Her mother takes more and more interest and care to continue the treatment for her daughter. She feels and has a great hope that one day her daughter will be a child of normal height. Madumekala has increased her weight and height. She now weighs seventeen kilos (37.5 pounds) and her height is 114 centimeters (44.9 inches - 3.74 feet). Before the start of the treatment, in March 2005, Madumekala's height was 100 centimeters. Real Medicine Foundation also donates nutritious food parcels to this little girl since her parents are very poor. It includes sustergen, grains, butter and cheese, Maggie noodles and fruits and vegetables. And her weight has increased.
Madumekala receives a regular food supply from the Real Medicine Foundation

Update: October 2006

Previous Next

Madumekala Udayawanthi Ubeywarna is now 12 years old and continues to do well under the treatment with Human Growth Hormone, gaining height and weight. Her family, having lost their house and all their possessions in the tsunami of December 2004, just moved out of the refugee camp, where we met her in February 2005 into a newly built village for 100 families, the I.S.P. Tsunami Village Yayawatta, Palapotha, Seenimodara, close to the city of Tangalle, Sri Lanka.

Madumekala visits the clinic at Karapitiya Hospital in Galle every two weeks with her mother to be seen by Prof. Sujeewa Amarasena, the Head of the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Ruhuna in Galle, who oversees her treatment.

Since the family is very poor and their only income right now is 2,000 Rupees ($20) per month, we are providing the bus fare for the hospital visits as well as the funding for the treatment with HGH. Minerva Fernando, Real Medicine's coordinator in Sri Lanka, also started to supply Madumekala with additional food to support her treatment. The move to the new village makes it more difficult for the children to attend school. They were accustomed to walk to their school, which now is nearly impossible. We are hiring a trishaw for Madumekala and two more children to take them to school and pick them up (400 Rupees = $4/month).

Thank you so much to our generous donors, who are making sure that Madumekala's treatment will be taken care of for the next years to come! We will keep you posted on her progress.

Update: February 2005 – April 2006

Madumekala was started on hormone replacement therapy (hydrocortisone and thyroxine) at that time, but the parents could not afford the treatment with growth hormone ($450/month).

Real Medicine decided to support Madumekala’s treatment so that she would have a chance to reach an adult height and live a normal life. We were able to provide treatment for her starting in March 2005 for the entire upcoming year with the help of Care Sri Lanka (www.caresrilanka.com). Thank you!

Prof. Sujeewa Amaresena, the Head of the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Ruhuna in Galle, generously offered to oversee her treatment.

By June 2005, after two months of treatment with growth hormone, Madumekala had already responded very well. She had grown more than an inch and her body and face had started to change. Her mother is driving with her by bus to Galle (4-hour-drive) once a month to see Dr. Sujeewa Amarasena and to pick up the medication. Right now, she is treated with growth hormone, thyroxine and hydrocortisone.

We saw Madumekala again in March 2006, by then she had grown a total of 9cm (3.54 inches) under the treatment. And she is becoming more and more of a happy little girl.

To continue the treatment, we need about $480/month for the next 4 to 5 years to make it possible for Madumekala to reach an acceptable height. The goal is to treat Madumekala with growth hormone until she reaches puberty.