Heart to heart

By Hiranthi Fernando

Lahiru's condition was diagnosed when he was eight months old. "He had a high fever for several days and when we took him to a private doctor he sent us to the Kurunegala Hospital. Then we were asked to go to Kandy for scanning and there, doctors confirmed that Lahiru had a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) or hole in the heart," Chandralatha said.

From then on Chandralatha had to take her baby to the clinic at Kurunegala Hospital once in 15 days for treatment. And once a year, he had to be taken to the Kandy Hospital. "Although the doctors said the hole in the heart would close, there was no improvement," Chandralatha said. "Lahiru would pant at the slightest exertion. He could not run or play with the other children. He also used to perspire excessively. When he slept, the sheet would be wet with perspiration."

In 1999 he was referred to the Cardiology Unit at the Colombo National Hospital, where the doctors said he needed surgery. "We stayed one month in the hospital. A date was given and all the tests were carried out. However, we were sent home again and given another date," Chandralatha said.

They returned to the Colombo National Hospital in December 1999 and stayed until March 2000. Once again, they were asked to come back a few months later but Chandralatha pleaded with the doctors, explaining the difficulty in leaving her younger son at home. 

It was then that their luck changed. "I had just washed Lahiru's face one morning when Dr. Srikanthi Handy, came into the ward looking for a patient named Lahiru. I ran to her and told her my son was Lahiru. She told me we had had some good fortune and that a kind donor had come forward to sponsor the operation for my son."

The sponsorship was arranged by Dr. Handy, who had equipped a children's cardiac ward at the National Hospital, Colombo, in memory of her father Dr. G.R. Handy, Sri Lanka's first cardiologist. She had also set up a G.R. Handy Memorial Trust, an approved charity, through which the sponsorship was arranged.

The sponsor wished to see the boy and his mother so hospital authorities took them to the sponsor's residence in Wellawatte. Lahiru was then discharged from the National Hospital and taken to the Nawaloka Hospital, where the surgery was to be performed. "Dr. Handy stayed by us and gave us all the encouragement and help throughout this period," Chandralatha said with gratitude. The necessary tests were taken and on April 1, Lahiru underwent the operation, which was to change his life. 

The operation was a success. And a few days later, the sponsor saw Lahiru in hospital and gave his mother Rs. 10,000 for his medicines and extra nourishment. Today, one year after the operation, Lahiru is perfectly well and able to run and play and do everything a little boy likes to do. 

Lahiru is just one of many such children who require surgery to lead normal lives. In the Pediatric Cardiology ward in the G.R. Handy Memorial Unit, babies - some just one week old - and other children up to the age of 14, suffering from congenital heart diseases await surgery. Most require simple operations, but due to a bottleneck caused by a shortage of beds in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, there is a long waiting list for surgery. Patients needing urgent cardiac surgery from the outstations are also referred to Colombo. As the emergency cases are taken up on a priority basis, the waiting list grows longer. For many of the parents, surgery in a private hospital is beyond their means. So they have to wait and hope that their child would have a chance of corrective surgery to give him or her a normal life. 

Little Nimesha who is just three months old suffers from VSD or a hole in the heart. She has difficulty in breathing. Her mother Vimala Shantha has brought the infant all the way from Puttalam. They are awaiting completion of the tests and a date for surgery. 

Sanduni Ruwanthi from Wariyapola is one year old. Her mother Nilakshi said they had got a date for surgery at Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital. The operation alone will cost Rs. 175,000 and they would need another Rs.30,000 for additional expenses. Part of the costs will be met by the President's Fund but they still have to raise more money. 

Eleven-year-old Tharangi Dinusha from Bandarawela was diagnosed with a hole in the aorta (Patent Ductus Anteriosis – PDA) when she was a toddler. She was operated on eight years ago, but recent tests at the Paediatric Cardiology Unit reveal that she needs to undergo surgery once again. 

Like Lahiru, there are the fortunate ones: Two children who were recently sponsored by a generous donor have shown remarkable post-operative progress. 

"Every day of my life I give thanks to the generosity of the sponsor," Chandralatha said. "It was a gift from heaven for us. As a mother, all those years, I could only smile through my tears because of my great worry for my son. I didn't know how we could make him better. Even if we had got assistance from the President's Fund, we would have had to bear half the cost. How could I have found the balance? Now my son is well again and can lead a normal life."

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