Hi Everyone,

I am Sanath Lekamge, Shani Rajapakse’s friend living in the USA.

Shani is a 40-year-old Sri Lankan battling Systemic Lupus erythematosus, Antiphospholipid Syndrome, Raynaud’s phenomenon, and arthritis since the year 2010. She had undergone near-death experiences about four times for all these periods and with recurrent flare-ups. Unfortunately, Sri Lankan doctors still couldn’t get her disease controlled. They also say she is one extremely rare patient with an ANA titer of 1:5120.

Her disease came up with a first-trimester miscarriage and she had undergone an adrenal crisis, respiratory arrest, Extra pulmonary tuberculosis, pleural and pericardial effusions, Interstitial Lung Disease, Intra-cerebral hemorrhage, and left knee patella fracture. This April she got gangrene in her right second toe and doctors had to amputate it. Still, she suffers from phantom pain.

As she is recurrently undergoing flares and still doctors couldn’t control her disease, doctors’ advice is for her to go back to the UK as they have quality medication and a better health system than Sri Lanka. In the year 2010, Shani was in the UK while reading her master’s degree at the University of Sunderland, United Kingdom. Unfortunately, she could not complete her studies with the disease and had to come back to Sri Lanka as she got no support in the UK. Shani was a banker and worked at Seylan Bank Plc with me and HSBC Sri Lanka.

Her father (Government Surveyor) tragically died of the Tsunami in the year 2004 and her sister was also a leukemia patient. January this year she underwent with bone marrow transplant in India.

These days she is on Prednisolone (30mg daily), Mycophenolate Mofetil (500mg tds) Warfarin (5.5mg daily), Hydroxychloroquine (200mg bd), Azathioprine (25 mg), Nifedipine 40mg(bd), and Levetiracetam (500mg bd) and Alendronate (Annual Infusion). She is mainly treated under Dr. Lalith Wijayaratne (Rheumatologist) Dr.Upul Dissanayaka ( Physician) Dr.Aflah Sadikeen (Chest Physician) and Dr. Sanjeewa Garusinghe (Neuro Surgeon) at National Hospital, Colombo.

With Sri Lanka’s economic situation, her doctors strictly advised her to go back to the UK. I sincerely hope and pray that you will understand my dear friend's unexpected and extremely rare medical condition under these circumstances. I firmly believe that her condition will be sympathetically considered on humanitarian grounds for which we shall always be grateful. Please help her to go back to the UK and have her life back.