Less is more: Second opinion spares Sam from risky invasive surgery

Like many moms, Brenda Jackson worried about the transition to middle school for her son Sam. He had had mysterious wetting accidents ever since potty training. Doctors had diagnosed an overactive bladder and tried everything — behavioral interventions, medications and dietary changes. Nothing worked. Fortunately, Sam attended a small Montessori school where all the kids knew and accepted each other. But as he was getting ready for fifth grade, the specter of middle school, and the teasing that comes with early adolescence, loomed. “That’s a new ball game,” says his Brenda. “We knew we had to take care of this.” Because Sam also had constipation, the urologist at his Midwestern children’s hospital sent him to a gastroenterologist to see if addressing it would reduce Sam’s wetting accidents. The urologist put him on a medication meant to stop the spasms that were making him lose bladder control. It didn’t work. It was such a relief to know that Sam was able to have a less invasive procedure. Boston Children’s made a very stressful process easier and had the confidence to take care of it. Sam’s doctors and parents continued to search for answers. A dimple on the boy’s lower back suggested something wrong with his spinal cord, so Sam was referred for an MRI of his spine. “We got a call the next morning that Sam had a thoracic syrinx [a collection of fluid inside the spinal cord’s central canal] and that we needed to see a neurosur...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Our Patients’ Stories bedwetting Dr. Mark Proctor Dr. Samuel Nurko Dr. Stuart Bauer online second opinion tethered cord Tethered Cord Program Source Type: news