Monica's story

Monica's Story

Monica is a beautiful 14-year-old girl from Lago Agrio, a small village in the jungle where living conditions are extremely challenging. Monica dreams of being an accountant because she loves numbers.

 

From this picture you would not know how different Monica's life is from the three young ladies that came in to volunteer from the local international school.

 

Monica grew up with a debilitating handicap. She was born with clubfeet that were not corrected at an early age. This has prevented her her from doing all those things that 14-year-old girls enjoy doing. Monica was never aware that she would be able to get help through surgery until she went to a military hospital close to her village, where she was told about CAMTA. After assessing Monica, the CAMTA team decided to try and correct Monica's feet, even though they know how challenging it will be at her age. However, Monica is in pain and discomfort from her condition, not to mention the effect on her self esteem.

 

Monica arrives on Clinic Day with her aunt. They have traveled six hours from her village hoping for CAMTA to help them.

 

Monica and her aunt are waiting for surgery. They are both very nervous.

 

This picture shows how severe Monica's case is and how challenging it will be for the surgeons to give Monica normal feet.

 

The Week 1 Pediatric team reconstructed Monica's left foot and she will undergo surgery again next week for her other foot.  

 

Monica in recovery room with Anesthesiologist Dr. Florian Rudolph checking up on her. 

 

Monica is doing well after her surgery. Dr. Moreau checks out her other foot which Team 2 will attempt to reconstruct on Monday.

 

Follow this blog for an update on Monica's progress and her second surgery!