Dr. Jaime Andrés Benítez Kellendonk – defies all odds

It was an incredibly emotional day for the CAMTA team today. Last year, CAMTA was consulted on a very unique and difficult case. Two physicians who work at Un Canto a la Vida asked CAMTA to consider operating on their son – Jaime (pronounced Hi-mae). Jaime presented with benign (non-cancerous) bone tumours in his hips – a complication resulting from a biking accident a year prior. Jaime was downhill mountain biking when he fell and shattered a vertebrae in his spine. Some of the pieces of the broken vertebrae pierced his spinal cord and resulted in Jaime becoming a paraplegic. At the time, Jamie was in his last year of residency as a surgical oncologist and had to take time off to recuperate from this life changing accident.

When CAMTA was presented with Jaime's case we initially declined. CAMTA has come down for many years to provide orthopedic surgery to individuals who come from very poor families and otherwise would not have access to care. Jaime, on the other hand, came from a middle class family and arguably had access (and privilege) that our usual patients did not. However, as one of our family docs, Dr. Ryan Wright, so eloquently put, “while CAMTA mostly comes down to address patients with financial poverty, Jaime had poverty of opportunity.” 

Jaime and his parents had been to countless surgeons across the country and all deemed Jaime's case too complex and too risky to attempt. But, because of Jaime's complication his pelvis was fused and he was stuck with his hips in an extended position, unable to bend at the waist. Not only was this incredibly uncomfortable and painful for Jaime but it prevented him from participating in any of activities he previously enjoyed.

In many ways CAMTA's involvement in Jaime's case was miraculous. Last year was the second year that Dr. Paulose Paul came on a CAMTA mission. Dr. Paul is an orthopedic surgeon with a specialization in bone and muscle tumours. Furthermore, Drs. Surita Sidhu and Angela Neufeld were anesthetists trained in cardiology and complex cases who had the experience and comfort to partake in Jaime's case. 

In the end, 4 surgeons (Dr. Paul, Dr. Secretan from CAMTA and two local surgeons), and 4 Anesthetists (Dr. Sidhu, Dr. Neufeld, and two local anesthetists) participated in Jaime's surgery. The surgery took approximately 7 hours and Jaime remained in ICU for several days after. The surgery that he had done resulted in tremendous blood loss and in ICU Jaime received over 12 units (6.3 Litres) of blood. The completion of such a complex surgery and Jaime's recovery are a testament of what CAMTA is here to do. None of this would have been possible without a strong partnership between CAMTA doctors and local practitioners. Furthermore, the miraculous team of doctors, nurses and support staff enabled Jaime an opportunity to pursue his dreams.

 

Today, Jaime came to visit us at the hospital. He was reunited with Dr. Paulose Paul, Dr. Surita Sidhu and Dr. Ryan Wright, as well as other members of the CAMTA team. He could not stop expressing his gratitude and his conviction that the doctors had given him a better life. Jaime told us, “It's not impossible to do anything. I can be a doctor, a father, a partner. I can ride my bike, I can go to the cinema, I do not need to depend on anyone. I may not be able to walk, but I am living.”
 

This July, Jaime will finish the last year of his surgical oncology residency. He currently completes 2-3 surgeries per day, attends to his patients in clinic and is teaching a general surgery course at a very prestigious university in Quito called Soka. He is truly a remarkable man.
 

When I asked Jaime what he thought was most important that I share, he said, “LOVE. I have finally become a good doctor. I don't just have the brains and the hands but now I also have the heart. I have learned what it is to be a patient. I am thankful for the accident. I am thankful for you doctors – you gave me a better life.”