Baby needs help to fight rare disease
While Belize’s medical capabilities have grown tremendously in both size and sophistication, there are still a large number of procedures that cannot be handled locally. Today, News 5’s Jacqueline Woods looked in on one patient who needs your help to receive care abroad.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Three months ago, one-year-old Lashawn Gladden was drinking her bottle and standing on her own, but a neurological condition has now left the toddler unable to eat or move properly.
Robert Gladden, Father
“She start to drowsiness and weakness.”
Jacqueline Woods
“She wasn’t standing up on her own?”
Robert Gladden
“No.”
Jacqueline Woods
Robert Gladden
“She does drink eight ounce, but now she barely could drink four once.”
Dr. Egbert Grinage, President, Friends of Paediatrics
“She started becoming weak, she was noted not to be holding up her neck very well and she was having problems swallowing, she did not want to eat. What they noticed overall, was that she stop walking all together, what you call regression of her milestone.”
The medical condition, Myasthenia Gravis, attacks muscles in the throat, eyes and chest. The condition is not curable, but it can be controlled with medication and proper care.
Dr. Egbert Grinage
“This is a very rare condition. It affects about fourteen per one hundred thousand people in larger countries. There are about four or so patients in Belize, and maybe in the United States about thirty-six thousand patients all together.”
On Monday, Lashawn developed pneumonia and is hospitalised at the Universal Health Services Hospital. Paediatrician and President of Friends of Paediatrics, Dr. Egbert Grinage, says they are working to get Lashawn strong enough to survive the illness.
Dr. Egbert Grinage
“She has evidence that she is spilling milk into her airway too, because she has pneumonia on her film. We just did an X-ray this morning, and in spite of her being on adequate doses of the medication, and being reviewed on a daily basis by a neurologist, she is developed a little pneumonia here. So that is evidence that the medicine is still not strengthening the inner muscles of her swallowing mechanism properly for her to protect her airways, so she’s getting food into her trachea.”
To control that situation, a tube was inserted into Lashawn’s stomach and it is through this mechanism that she is receiving her medication and food. However, Dr. Grinage admits that his young patient will need to go abroad to seek specialized treatment to get her to the point where she will be able to live a more normal life.
Dr. Egbert Grinage
“She needs a paediatric neurologist whose main preoccupation is looking after children that have Myasthenia Gravis. In the larger hospitals, they have things called Myasthenia Gravis centres that are totally dedicated, and they have researched and specialise the care of these patients in a very bog way, not only medication wise and adjunctive therapies in terms of getting her stronger, but also they have people whose entire job, a nurse, whose job is just to stay with the parents, and say, this is what you need to do when you’re at home. If she does this you are to do this, I she does that, call the doctor, you can solve this yourself, that kind of things.”
Dr. Grinage says he has been working to see what international charitable institution will be able to provide care for Lashawn. But the family will need at least five thousand dollars to cover their travel and other expenses. In the meantime, the little girl’s parents are receiving the training necessary to properly maintain the health of their daughter.
Dr. Egbert Grinage
“Because in addition to drugs and medication, we have other types of care. Like she needs a lot of pounding on her chest, chest physiotherapy, when they feed her they need to check that her tube to bypass her swallowing mechanism is in the right place, so that needs intensive education.”
Dr. Grinage believes that Lashawn was born with the condition that developed over a period of time. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
If you would like to help one year old Lashawn Gladden, please contact her parents, Robert Gladden or Kanisha Plunkett, at Universal Health Services or Dr. Egbert Grinage, also at U.H.S.
