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Friends,
Thanks for taking time to read this. I know that each of you are incredibly busy with work, family and friends but I immediately thought about sending this out to everyone who might just have an answer to this little girl’s problems.
Her name is Sharlotte Hunt Hamilton and she is just 7 years old and in the second grade. On October 8, 2007, Sharlotte was hit in the face while at school. Her jaw began to swell and she was taken to her doctor’s where they took an x-ray of her jaw which was negative. She was placed on anti-inflammatories and antibiotics (although the skin was never broken). When the swelling did not reduce, she was then treated with steroids although without resolution of the swelling. At this point (20 days from the initial hit to the jaw) she was referred to a maxillofacial specialist in Santo Domingo and had a CT scan. Sharlotte’s parents were told that they needed to be referred to pediatric oncologist because the maxillofacial specialist did not deal with the type of problem that she had. Still, no one explained anything. When they met with Dr. Jose Ramirez (pediatric oncologist in Santo Domingo) he then scheduled a biopsy and referred them to another pediatric oncologist because he was going to be out of the country until the first part of December. The biopsy was performed on October 16 and Sharlotte remained in the hospital until the 19th. A copy of the translated biopsy is attached along with photos and a copy of the original biopsy (in Spanish). Yesterday, an immunohistological assay was performed and she will have the results in approximately 10 days. Tomorrow she is scheduled for another CT scan. All that the parents have been told so far is that the tumor is very aggressive and she needs a diagnosis and evaluation immediately, thus the further tests. I measured the tumor today and at the widest points it is 7.2 cm x 7.8 cm. You can see the growth since the biopsy was done by comparing the pictures taken today with the one attached to the original biopsy. She is currently without pain and has no trouble swallowing or eating.
Sharlotte’s parents, Carlos Enrique Hamilton and Walkia Altagracia Hunt, were told that they should come to the Good Samaritan Hospital to see what options might be available because many other patients have found help with American teams. It is a blessing to be known as a hospital that can help find answers when no one else can! Carlos is in charge of managing the Minitas beach at Casa de Campo and Walkia is an assistant accountant with the pension fund for Central Romana Corporation. They are a solid, Christian, working class family and have another daughter, Karla, who is just 4 years old and in kindergarten. The family expressed to me today that they have struggled with losing hope because of being told how aggressive the tumor is but little else. They are a wonderfully humble and gentle family and ironically, were issued US visas (just for family travel purposes) when this first began. They had no idea that they might need these visas for anything else.
Please read the translated biopsy and see the attached pictures. Any help, information, suggestions, etc that you can offer will be greatly appreciated. The family has not asked for financial help but I can assume that this will also be a need for them if traveling to the states is an option for treatment and/or evaluation. Please consider if this is one way in which you can help.
At stake here, not to sound dramatic, is the life of this little 7 year old girl. It would be wonderful to give the parents the hope of treatment and healing.
Blessings,
Kristy
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