Dalia is a four-year-old girl from Guatemala. She lives with her mother in Guatemala’s rural western highlands. Dalia loves to eat her favorite food, which is fried chicken, and she enjoys playing with her toy dolls and running around, although she can’t run for long because her hernia starts to give her pain.
Dalia needs hernia surgery. Hernias occur when part of the intestines bulges through a weak area in the muscles of the stomach wall. Small hernias are often asymptomatic, though they tend to become larger over time, and then create bulges, discomfort, burning, and weakness. Dalia often suffers abdominal pain from the hernia, which limits her from doing the things she loves. Without treatment, her hernia will likely grow, the likelihood that she may develop complications will increase, and her pain will increasingly limit her daily activities.
Fortunately, surgery for hernias is very effective and often accomplished without even an overnight stay in the hospital. With $773 in funding, Dalia will receive the case management, medication, surgery, and labs she needs to get her hernia repaired. Surgery is scheduled for December 12. Surgery will help Dalia to live pain-free so that she can keep on running all day and live like the happy little girl she is.
Dalia says, “I am happy because I won’t hurt anymore.”