Considering the Rhizotomy

It's been almost a year since we first considered a Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy for Donovan. He has Spastic Diplegia which means his brain does not naturally inhibit his body's natural response to continuously tighten his muscles (they call it spasticity). What this means is that it prevents him from placing his feet flat on the ground when walking which causes him to fall more often and harder than any child should. With each growth period, the spasticity seems more prominent. Although he is running and moving much better, they call it a false strength. He has learned to compensate and amazingly works around the tightness. Without an intervention like the Rhizotomy, we won't know how much the spasticity will hinder him as he grows. Later in life he could have the need for surgeries because his muscles may become so tight they will experience a contracture (start to shorten). He is likely to have arthritis as an adult because of the way his tight muscles pull on his feet, knees, and hips. So we took the advice of his orthopedic surgeon and neurologist and considered the Rhizotomy.

It's been a journey... three opionions from respected institutions, a formal gait analysis and a whole lot of time talking with his physicians. We finally decided that this is an opportunity we don't want to pass up for Donovan. It's going to be a hard road for our little guy over the next year but we fully believe this procedure will ease his journey in the future.