Physical Health Lithuania Project #6689

Let's Help More Than 100 Children with Cancer

by Childhood Cancer Fund Rugut

Project Report | Jun 22, 2015
Let's Help Children With Cancer - Report 2015-06

By Tadas Armonas | Project Leader

Childhood Cancer Fund Rugute continues to provide financial support to families with children that have been diagnosed with oncological diseases. During the last three months, the Fund provided monthly and non-recurring charity of 6,800.00 Eur to such families. The families used this money to purchase necessary medical care supplies and to cover travelling expenses, as well as other costs that they could not have avoided due to their child’s disease.

The Fund helps to purchase specific medications that are needed for individual childhood cancer patients. Some of these medications are not covered by the Government, and some are not supplied in Lithuania at all. Oftentimes, in order to begin to administer the new treatment schemes that have never been administered in Lithuania before, hospitals face a need to purchase advanced antitumor drugs that are successfully used to treat oncology patients in foreign countries.

Physicians of the Oncology and Haematology Unit of Children’s Clinic of Kaunas Clinics requested Childhood Cancer Fund Rugute to help them purchase antitumor medication, needed by a teenage patient Gabija. The doctors are going to try the new treatment scheme where an antitumor medication Avastin (Bevacizumab) is going to be administered to Gabija. The Lithuanian Government does not cover this particular drug, therefor our Fund spent 8,400.00 Eur to purchase a quantity of it.

Also, following doctor’s request, in order to continue a successful treatment scheme to two children with brain tumors, our Fund purchased medications Temozolomide Teva (100 mg and 20 mg) for 2,372.58 Eur.

One of the most common side effects of chemotherapy is mouth ulcerations that worsen the physical and emotional condition of the young patient: children are unable to eat and suffer severe pain. In order to ease these symptoms, the Fund purchased a quantity of mouthwash solution Aftamed for 613.23 Eur.

In order to be able to analyze the young patients’ weight and to alter their doses of medications accordingly, the Fund purchased 2 electronic scales for 750.20 Eur.

Last March, Fund Rugute made the little Katerina’s dream come true. This is what Katerina wrote us: “I started attending the new school this year. A new teacher, different children... I feel awkward and sad, because I don’t know how to approach them and how to make new friends. I used to have one best friend – we went to school together and rode our bicycles. The children of the new school also gather up at the stadium with their bicycles. I often watch them through the window and dream of my own bicycle, so that I could go riding with them. Perhaps this way I would be able to find a new best friend...“ The Fund allocated 336.16 Eur to fulfill Katerina’s dream and bought her a new bicycle.

The young cancer patients’ treatment is a long, intense and complicated process. Once the child reaches remission, he or she often experiences complications caused by treatment. These children usually suffer from fear, anger and anxiety, due to various medical procedures they have to go through.

For a long time, we have been developing an idea that we should not only care for the little hospital patients, but that we should also help the children that have reached remission, to fully recover from the disease and the treatment. It is obvious that in order for their bodies and souls to get better, it is crucial to provide them with both active and passive recreation, new experiences, joyful adventures and new friends. Positive emotions free their minds; encourage them to enjoy every single day and to discover the world around them.

We were very happy to receive an invitation from Swedish company NFG Fastigheter AB. They offered us to bring our children to Mallorca, Spain, for a week of vacation. From the 18^th to the 25^th of April, 5 children who had been diagnosed with oncological diseases in the past, and their family members, had a vacation in Can Fanals property on the warm Mediterranean island of Mallorca.

For the past three months, Rugute was also able to continue covering the maintenance costs of Rugute’s Home, the only facility in Lithuania that provides temporary free of charge accommodation to the young cancer patients and their family members. This facility is a shelter for the families that live far away from the hospital, and is especially appreciated by the young cancer patients for its cozy and playful home environment.

We are very grateful to our dear donors of GlobalGiving, who do not hesitate to contribute to the well-being of the little oncology patients in Lithuania.

Thank you for thinking of us, and for being there for our children.

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Mar 24, 2015
Let's Help Children With Cancer - Report 2015-03

By Tadas Armonas | Project Leader

During the last three months, Childhood Cancer Fund Rugute provided monthly and non-recurring charity of 2,368.86 Eur to families with children that have been diagnosed with oncological diseases. The families used this money to purchase necessary medical care supplies and to cover their traveling expenses and other costs that they could not have avoided due to their child’s disease.

Following the request of an oncologist of Kaunas Clinics (University of Health Sciences of Lithuania), in order to continue the effective cancer treatment by the medicine Temozolomide, the Fund purchased 8 quantities of Temozolomide Teva 100 mg N5 for one young female cancer patient with a brain tumor. The medicine cost 878.30 Eur.

In order to continue improving the psychological well-being of the little oncology patients, the Fund purchased 3 items of central venous catheters and 360 items of special needles (to be used with these catheters) for 2,051.40 Eur. Long-term central venous catheters and the special needles are known to improve the psychological well-being of the little children who are undergoing treatment, because they allow them to avoid pain and multiple peripheral catheter insertion into the vein procedures.

Within the past three months Rugute purchased 2 professional blood pressure monitors that will ease the patient care and will allow the nurses to estimate the patients’ condition more precisely. Total cost – 462.58 Eur.

The Fund also provided the Children’s Oncohaematology Center of Vilnius Children’s Hospital with a special medical file storage cabinet. The cabinet cost 1,679.80 Eur.

For the past three months, Rugute was also able to continue covering the maintenance costs of Rugute’s Home, the only facility in Lithuania that provides temporary accommodation to the young cancer patients and their family members, free of charge. This facility is a shelter for the families that live far away from the hospital, and is especially appreciated by the young cancer patients for its cozy and playful home environment.

On the 12th of December, 2014, Rugute’s partners from Sweden arrived to Lithuania for the 8^th time in a row. The Swedish guests traditionally visited all the childhood cancer patients being treated in Vilnius and Kaunas hospitals. They brought gifts to the children and created a true Christmas miracle for them.

Dear friends, we wish to express our heartfelt thanks to every one of you for kindly contributing to our mission. Every penny, received from you, is spent with great consideration and responsibility. We are so proud of what we have achieved together. Many thanks and best regards to all of you from our little patients and their parents!

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Dec 23, 2014
Let's Help Children With Cancer - Report 2014-12

By Tadas Armonas | Project Leader

Report (September, October and November of 2014)

Childhood Cancer Fund Rugute continues providing financial support to families with children that have been diagnosed with oncological diseases. During the last three months, the Fund provided monthly and non-recurring charity of 15,500.00 LTL to such families. The families used this money to purchase necessary medical care supplies, and were able to cover traveling expenses and other costs that they could not have avoided due to their child’s disease.

The Fund purchased 3 items of central venous catheters for 3,267.00 LTL and 300 items of special needles (to be used with these catheters) for 4,138.20 LTL. Long-term central venous catheters and the special needles are known to improve the psychological well-being of the little children who are undergoing treatment, because they allow them to avoid pain and multiple peripheral catheter insertion into the vein procedures.

One of the most common side effects of chemotherapy is mouth ulcerations that worsen the physical and emotional condition of the young patient: children are unable to eat and suffer severe pains. In order to ease these symptoms, the Fund purchased a quantity of mouthwash solution Caphosol and a quantity of mouth gel Gelclair for 1,869.55 LTL.

The Fund also purchased some infusion and transfusion systems (540 items) that are used to administer medications, physiological fluids and glucose solutions intravenously. We allocated 2,744.28 LTL to purchase these systems.

During the past three months, Fund Rugute has made three children’s dreams come true. We purchased two laptop computers for two little boys who have been spending long months at the hospital. The total cost of the computers: 4,336.00 LTL. Another young cancer patient, Aine, had a dream to own a professional camera and to learn to take photos. The Fund purchased a new camera for Aine (cost – 2,101.31 LTL). The girl shares her first impressions: So unexpectedly, one of my biggest dreams came true! I am very grateful to Rugute for the gift. I am so happy, THANK you! I love my new camera and take pictures of everything I see around me, because I want to learn everything there is to learn about photography.

On the 29th of November, Rugute celebrated its 10th anniversary. Looking back at the last decade, we are happy that we have not drifted away from our basic values and principles, and that we have stayed together as one large family. We especially value the gifts we have been receiving from our sponsors, volunteers and other dear people: the unconditional love for little children, the sincere care, the support, believing in Rugute’s ideas and hope.

In order to commemorate our 10th anniversary, we invited everybody to the involuntary blood drive Share a Droplet. 47 donors donated their blood in the cozy atmosphere of Rugute’s home.

A large part of what we have achieved during the last three months is mostly your merit, our dear supporters of GlobalGiving. Your generous donations enabled us to continue working on our successful projects. Many young cancer patients felt better and happier because of you. We want to thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your kindness and love.

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