Sri Lanka

In addition to our sponsored children we provided transportation for an infant who was brought to our attention who exhibited stunted growth. The parents did not have the money to make the trip to the hospital nor for the evaluations necessary to determine what congenital disorder the child suffers from. Professor Sujeewa did a full evaluation and determined that the stunted growth was not due to growth hormone deficiency. He will be providing us with a full report upon completion of blood testing.

RMF staff hired a van for the trip and as Ms. Fernando wrote in her report, “It was like a family get together.” Lunch was provided to assure the comfort of the children and their parents during the long drive to the hospital.

This trip also served as an opportunity for Mr. Nishantha, RMF staff accountant, to review operations and accounting procedures implemented in May when the program re-commenced. Special Thanks to Mr. Thushantha, Ms. Shanuki and Mr. Hanama from A. Baurs as well as the staff of Ruhuna Medical College for their cooperation and support.

Program Director, Professor Sujeewa Amarasinghe and his colleague in charge of data collection Dr. Kamani Samaralatha were on hand to welcome the children and gather their weight and height measurements as well as perform general physicals to assure that they were not experiencing any side effects associated with treatment.

Below are the summaries of the children’s visits along with the growth statistics recorded from their visit. We are grateful that of the children are responding favorably to the treatment and we’ve been assured that they have the best chances of attaining their normal growth rates over time.

Madumekala

Madu is now 14yrs old 4 mos. During the last quarter she has grown 1.3 cm and her weight has increase by .5 kg. Due to her mother’s complications with her new-born child and lack of funds, Madu missed one of her treatments. It is believed that this missed treatment may have contributed to some leg pain Madu experienced just prior to the visit. Real Medicine’s staff was unaware of this financial difficulty but has since assured Madu’s family that funds are available for Madu’s transport to the hospital for her injections when needed.

Sachini Lakmali

Sachini is now 17yrs 7 months old. She suffers from Turner’s Syndrome and due to her age has very little time remaining to stimulate maximum bone growth. In this last quarter, she experienced growth of 1.4 cm and her height velocity per year is steadily increasing. To optimize her remaining time for growth, Professor Sujeewa recommended her growth hormone dosage be doubled.

Tharindu

Tharindu’s blood tests were reviewed and Professor Sujeewa suggested increasing the dosage for the next quarter to assure better control of his blood lipid levels.

Fazir, Gayan and Madura

The other children sponsored by Real Medicine Foundation were not part of this trip as they are closer to the hospital and were already evaluated. Attached below are their records. Each child is responding favorably to the treatments.

Your Support is Still Needed.

We’re grateful to the management at A.Baurs health care for negotiating a lower price for each treatment however the need for on-going funding remains due to the long-term nature of these treatments. To make a donation please click here and state that your contribution is for the Sri Lanka Children’s Growth Hormone Therapy program. The cost per child per year is approximately $1400 with the exception of Sachini’s which amounts annually to $2800 due to her increased dosage and limited time for benefit. Currently RMF sponsors 5 children, each requiring up to 5 or more years of treatment. Thank you in advance for your contribution.