Coming together from worlds apart for spina bifida care

.twentytwenty-before-label:before {content: "2014" !important; }.twentytwenty-after-label:before {content: "2016" !important; } Molly Gotbeter giggles impishly as she accepts a sugar cookie and frosting from a nurse. She’s sitting patiently on an exam table waiting to see one of her favorite people in the world — Benjamin Warf, MD, director of Neonatal and Congenital Anomaly Neurosurgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. For this visit to the spina bifida clinic, Molly has traveled from her home in Charleston, South Carolina. But her journey to Dr. Warf and Boston Children’s has been much longer. Molly was born in a poor, rural region of China with a rare type of spina bifida, called lipomyelomeningocele. Children with this type of spina bifida have a large fatty mass on the back that attaches to the spinal cord and puts traction on it. If not treated, it can cause progressive difficulty with walking, muscle weakness, and bowel and bladder problems. Because Molly lived in an orphanage, she didn’t receive any medical care for her spina bifida. A leap of faith “When we told family and friends we were thinking of adopting a 2-year-old girl with spina bifida from China, they thought we were crazy,” says Brittan Gotbeter, Molly’s mom. Brittan and her husband Tommy already had their hands full with three biological children, but they wanted to do more. “My sister and I lost our parents as young children, and my adoptive mom made such sacrifices for us that I knew I ...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Dr. Benjamin Warf Dr. Terry Buchmiller neonatal and congenital anomaly neurosurgery spina bifida Spina Bifida Center Spina Bifida Clinic tethered cord Source Type: news