Girl gets 6 pound tumor removed from her neck

A 13-year-old girl from Ethiopia is showing off her
amazing results after having a six pound tumor removed from her neck on
9/11.
"I'm all good," said Aster Degano, 13-years-old.
Degano lived with a growing tumor in her neck that could, and should have
been removed a lifetime ago.
"In the United States, this would've been diagnosed, probably about 12
years ago and it would've been taken care of at that
time," said Dr. Milton
Waner, of Lenox Hill Hospital.
But Aster and her family live in a remote village in southern Ethiopia, where
there is no treatment for this type of benign tumor known as a teratoma.
Aster's tumor had grown to six pounds, displacing her jawbone and carotid
artery.
"And there was probably a 30% narrowing of the trachea from just the
compression already," said Dr. Lee Smith, of Cohen Children's Medical
Center.
Not to mention the stigma, back in her village Aster was labeled as "evil".
"That was one of the reasons we didn't send her to school, because they
were making fun of her, bullying her," said Astor's father through a
translator.
Now, she is cured and also, had reconstructive surgery at the Cohen
Children's Medical Center.
It all began when an anesthesiologist visiting Ethiopia first met Aster there.
A CT scan was commissioned but it took three years of hard work, to bring
her back here.
A non-profit group called the "Little Baby Face Foundation" helped facilitate
the surgery.
And while Aster has certainly received an amazing gift, she is also teaching
them a thing or two.
"Even brushing her teeth, they don't use toothpaste, they use bark from a
tree, she has perfect teeth," said Diane Romo, of the Little Baby Face
Foundation.
It's a smile that lights up a room and now she has the confidence to go
with it.
"Now I know that I am beautiful and I am healed, and I like the way I am
now," Aster Degano said.