Pushing past the pain: Morgan ’s journey with spina bifida

“Be glad you can use your legs now. You might not always be able to.” That’s what Morgan Gautreau was told by a neurosurgeon in Alabama six years ago, one of many doctors she had seen seeking a solution for her nearly constant back pain caused by a tethered spinal cord due to spina bifida occulta. Luckily, she and her family didn’t take his words to heart, but kept looking for help. Early surgeries Morgan’s journey with back pain began when she was in fourth grade. “I was at a Louisiana State University game and I realized my back was hurting. It just came out of the blue,” Morgan explains. “It hurt for a whole year before I finally had the first surgery.” By fifth grade, Morgan had already had two untethering surgeries near her home in New Orleans. After the second, her back started hurting again, but her surgeon said he couldn’t do anything else. That’s when the family started reaching out to other specialists. “We contacted a bunch of different hospitals but nobody could really do anything for me,” says Morgan. After doing some online research, Morgan’s mom Tammy reached out to Dr. Benjamin Warf, director of Neonatal and Congenital Anomaly Neurosurgery and a surgeon at the Spina Bifida and Spinal Cord Conditions Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. “They got back to me right away and were very attentive,” says Tammy. Two weeks later, Morgan traveled from her home in Louisiana to have surgery with Warf in Boston. Getting answers, fin...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Dr. Bartley Cilento Dr. Benjamin Warf Dr. Carlos Estrada Dr. Michelle Baum neonatal and congenital anomaly neurosurgery spina bifida Spina Bifida Center Spina Bifida Clinic tethered cord Source Type: news