A 15 year old girl suffering from a severe heart-lung problem which requires urgent medical attention is seeking financial assistance to undergo an operation in Madras, India. Florence Nyiramasengesho is suffering from a rare condition known as Pulmonary Veno-Occlusive disease which normally causes high blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs, leading to progressive obstruction of the pulmonary veins and elevated blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. Nyiramasengesho who is currently in Kigali Central Hospital (CHUK) where she was transferred from King Faycal Hospital will require between US $13,000 and 15,000 to successfully undergo an operation, according to doctors. She has, for the last eight months, been breathing through an Oxygen support machine ever since she was diagnosed with the problem by the doctors at King Faycal. According to her mother Francine Twagiramariya, Nyiramasengesho who was a student in Primary Three at Nyundo Primary School in the Western Province had always complained of breathing poorly until the condition worsened, prompting the single mother of 8 to seek medical attention. She said that the condition worsened until she could not breathe on her own requiring support since July 2008. Twagiramariya who claims that her husband left her said that the hospital has become a permanent home because she cannot afford the medicine prescribed for her daughter and it cannot be obtained under the Mutuelle De Sante scheme, on which she’s currently being treated. A dose of Sildenafil therapeutic pills which she requires urgently costs around US $150 on the US market but could be obtained at a price not less than US $200 dollars in Africa. When The New Times visited CHUK, Nyiramasengesho, who looks younger than her age could neither speak nor open her eyes. According to the mother, life at the hospital has become very expensive for them to bear and she called upon well wishers who could give material or financial support. The causes of Pulmonary Veno-Occlusive diseases are unknown in most cases, but doctors say it may be related to a viral infection. It may occur as a complication of certain connective tissue diseases, such as lupus or CREST, or as a complication of certain blood cancers (leukaemia or lymphoma) or chemotherapy. The disorder is most common amongst children and young adults. Those willing to give assistance can visit the Paediatric Ward at CHUK or call the Care taker Nurse on. +250788413918
