Let's Help More Than 100 Children with Cancer

Report (March, April and May, 2018)

Evaluating the various support provided in the months of March, April and May of 2018, we are pleased to have contributed to the successful treatment of children along with the doctors who treat children’s oncological illnesses. Also we are happy to have provided the opportunity for children who have reached the remission of the illness to spend some time in the rehabilitation camp in Mallorca.

According to received requests from families of children with an oncological illnesses, the families received monthly or one-time charity, taking into account the importance of the need indicated in the request. The oncological illness of the child affects the financial situation of the family: there is a significant reduction in income, as one of the parents is staying in the hospital with the child and cannot work for a long period of time; in addition, there is also a significant increase in family’s expenses. Other family members are trying to spend as much time as they can with the seriously ill child, and therefore, in cases where the family lives far away from the city where the hospital is located, a lot of money is spent on travel expenses. The Fund provided families with 5150.00 Eur for their needs and 2226.00 Eur by buying food and nursing equipment.

D.T. contacted the Fund with a request to pay for her son’s genetic research, done by the Caris Molecular Profiling Institute. The Fund was aware of the importance and necessity of these studies and provided 6000.00 Eur.

During the months of March, April and May of 2018, the Fund has faced the growing need for medication. Doctors are more and more confident in prescribing advanced, up-to-date treatment protocols that are not State-covered or not supplied in Lithuania at all, but are known for the success in treatment of children in other countries. In order to help the patient U. T., the Fund bought the Temozolomide 100 mg and Temozolomide 20 mg for 1590.38 Eur.

For the past nine years, the Fund has been ensuring that, in case of need, children with oncological illnesses have a long-term central vein catheters inserted, which significantly improves the psychological well-being of young patients during the treatment and prevents pain and multiple intravenous peritoneal catheter insertions. During these past few months, 9 units of long-term central vein catheters, and 380 units of suitable needles for these catheters were bought for 2690.19 Eur.

In 2015, the Fund launched a continuous project "Genetic Research for More Targeted and Effective Treatment for Each Little Patient". During the biomedical research in one of Europe's most modern laboratories, the study of biomedical molecular tumour markers is being conducted. Genetic tumour studies will allow to refine the histology of the tumour, predict the course of the illness and the risk of recurrence more precisely, and, once the tumour cells’ sensitivity or resistance to the medication is identified, individualize the treatment. For the genetic research of 2 children the Fund paid 6050.00 Eur.

After the diagnosis of remission of the illness, children often suffer from various complications of treatment, which does not allow to forget hospital and its environment. At the beginning of 2015, the Fund happily accepted the offer, made by Jurga and Fredrik Gotlund, to give children a week-long rest in the magnificent Can Fanals villa in Mallorca twice a year, and started a continuing project "Rehabilitation Camp for Children after Oncological Diseases in Mallorca". The aim of this project is to provide high-quality rehabilitation for children who have reached the remission of oncological illness. From April 21 to 28 of 2018, six children, who had oncological illnesses, accompanied by their loved ones enjoyed the warm Mediterranean Sea and admired the spectacular nature. Rehabilitation in Mallorca brings enormous benefits to children's emotional well-being. The flight tickets for 13 people, car rentals, fuel, meals, tourist attractions, insurance and other expenses etc. were 5288.00 Eur.

The Fund has donated 3000.00 Eur to the Lithuanian Children's oncology and Haematology Therapists Fellowship. During the treatment of oncological diseases, psychological help and rehabilitation care for the child is very important. At the request of the rehabilitation centre of children's onco-haematology centre, the Fund provided educational equipment for 1550.89 Eur.

The fund also is continuing the project of Rugute’s Home. It is rented premises (200 m2) located near the Vilnius Children’s Hospital, with a small yard, two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, a cosy area for games, resting and meetings. The aim of this project is to provide a temporary, free of charge accommodation to the children with cancer and their family members. Having found shelter in these premises, children with oncological diseases are able to have a break from their treatment and from being in the hospital. Also, Rugute’s Home allows their family members to get a temporary accommodation while visiting children in the hospital and spend a day or few with a child. The total maintenance cost of Rugute's Home in the months of March, April and May was 4795.09 Eur.

We especially appreciate the fact that through joint activities and ongoing projects you have contributed to the more advanced treatment of little patients, thus giving children the opportunity to grow, study, and love - to live. We are sincerely thankful for your support.

Report (December 2017–February 2018)

During the recent months of December, January and February, Rugute continued its activities and provided various support to children with oncological diseases and families who raise them. Fund also supported the major medical centers where these children are treated.

Within the past three months, the Fundprovided monthly and non-recurring charity to the families who had submitted their requests based on the importance of their needs. Families used this money to purchase necessary medical care and food supplies and to cover other costs that they could not have avoided due to their child’s disease (for example, travelling costs). The money also helped the families to improve the psychological well-being of the children. Fund provided 8,700.00 Eur in monetary form and 1,575.29 Eur worth of food products to such families.

The Fund also helped to purchase specific medications that are needed by individual childhood cancer patients but are not State-covered or not supplied in Lithuania at all. In order to ensure that the proper treatment is administered to the little patient Ugne T., the Fund bought Temozolomide 100 mg (8 items) for 676,93 Eur.

The Fund paid 9,075.00 Eur for genetic screening of 3 children. The genetic screening and testing of young cancer patients in one of the most modern laboratories of Europe, is a continued project, launched by the Fund in 2015. It‘s aim is to help Lithuanian doctors to detect the hystology of the tumor, to foresee the progress of the disease and to individualize the treatment.

The Fund also purchased the most commonly used mouthwash solution AftaClear for 109.75 Eur. This solution helps the little patients to get over the most common side effect of chemotherapy – mouth ulcerations that are known to worsen both physical and psychological condition of the sick child. Thanks to these solutions, children are able to eat without suffering too much pain.

Fund bought some supplies and covered some other necessary costs of Children‘s Oncohaematology Center of Santara Clinics (Children‘s Hospital):

• linen and bedding - 169.50 Eur;
• supplies for rehabilitation procedures of the patients - 268.92 Eur;
• translations for clinical testing and screening – 1,391.50 Eur;
• insurance policies for clinical testing and screening – 4,000.00 Eur.

Also, the Fund contributed to renovation of 4 rooms of the Oncohaematology Center, by allocating 17,035.63 Eur in order to improve the conditions of the rooms where children are staying during hospitalization.

A few years back, our Fund contributed to the project by Eugenijus Maciukas (a dad of a little patient), which involved setting up fish tanks in the hallways of Children’s Disease Clinic of LSMU. The hospital environment may be quite stressful to children (who spend long months in there) and depressing to their parents, therefore it is important to create a peaceful and emotionally rewarding environment. We helped to renew the aquariums and allocated 156.58 Eur for this particular project.

For the past three months, Rugute was also covering the maintenance costs of Rugute’s Home, the rented premises (200 m²) with two bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms and a cozy area for games, resting and meetings, and a small yard, not far from the Vilnius Children’s Hospital. It is the only facility in Lithuania that provides temporary accommodation to the young cancer patients and their family members, free of charge. Having found shelter in these premises, children with oncological diseases are able to have a break from their treatment and from being in the hospital. Rugute’s Home allows their family members to get a temporary accommodation while visiting children in the hospital. The total maintenance cost of Rugute's Home in the past three months was 5,019.90 Eur.

On the 8th of December, 2017, for the 11th time in a row, 5 long-term friends of Rugute came to Lithuania from Sweden. They brought many gifts wrapped by Swedish children and meant for Lithuanian childhood cancer patients. „This trip always reminds me that there is nothing more meaningul than sharing the moments together. These amazing elves from Sweden have a charisma for sharing. Sometimes it seems there is no need for any gifts, because their dances, their time spent with children and their love is the greatest gift of all. They spread this gift by their visits to families and to the hospital patients, from ward to ward, giving so much attention and warmth to every one of them,“ - says Fund‘s Director Edita.

On behalf of our most special children (our greatest fighters), we would like to express, once again, our sincere thanks for your donations. You are very important to us, because you enable us to help the ones who need our help today, because they may not have a tomorrow.