On the 9th day of Stand Tall Christmas

Today you get to meet the wonderful Jamila

We met Jamila a few years ago in the main city of Dar Es Salaam.  She was actually our first Muslim patient.  This poor little girl was so scared the day we did her first x-rays, that we had to take them laying down because she wouldn’t stop crying.  This is definitely not the Jamila you see today.  She is confident, stubborn, always thinks she knows best, and is becoming quite a handful in all the best ways. 

Jamila’s family first noticed problems as an infant when she missed hitting basic milestones like sitting, crawling, and standing.  But she eventually achieved them all, so the family didn’t take her to the doctors until her spine problem became severe.  Thankfully, her family found us.  By that time, her spine was compressing her stomach, so much so, that she was malnourished, weighing only 37 lbs at 12 years old.  She’s the first 12 year old I’ve ever met, who was suffering from osteoporosis, a disease, usually found in seniors, that weakens your bones.

We were lucky enough to find Dr. Lieberman from the Texas Back Institute.  We brought Jamila to Texas and her surgery is hopefully the first in what promises to be a long partnership.  Jamila lived in Texas almost 5 months.  While there, she fell in love with shopping, Halloween, and KFC.  Now, she is back in Tanzania with her family and is in school for the first time in almost 4 years.  She has a lot of catching up to do and it was with a fight to get a 13 year old enrolled in elementary school, but we did it!

Jamila’s spine is great.  Now, we will be with her for the next part of her journey and recovery from continuing to gain much needed weight, learning how to behave now that she’s physically strong enough to leave the house,  and catching up in school. She’s got a long way to go, but with her stubbornness, I know she can do it.  No one is ever going to tell this girl that she can’t do something...ever again!

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