Newswise Bhoomi Manjunatha, 5, has been able to rely less on her walker and wheelchair, and more on her own two feet, because of a surgery performed at Nationwide Childrens Hospital. Her hard work and determination in physical and occupational therapy post-surgery has also helped Bhoomi continue to make strides. Bhoomi was born with cerebral palsy and spasticity, a muscle control disorder that involves tight or stiff muscles and the inability to control those muscles. Spasticity affects more than 12 million people worldwide, including 80 percent of people with cerebral palsy. The spinal surgery Bhoomi had in January, called selective dorsal rhizotomy, was performed by Jeffrey R. Leonard, MD, chief of Neurosurgery at Nationwide Childrens. In the operating room, the surgery team anatomically divided out dorsal nerve roots which control the sensory portion of the spinal cord. They stimulate them electronically to determine which rootlets were abnormal and section about 60 percent of the feedback to prevent the tightening and stiffness that Bhoomi experienced. The surgery went well, but my part is easy. It is Bhoomi who has months of hard work and therapy ahead of her to strengthen her muscles to take advantage of her newfound mobility, said Dr. … Continue reading →

Alex Scott cannot speak. If he could, he might be able to answer a crucial question that has pitted the people who speak for him against one another and left him stranded in a Northern Virginia hospital for three weeks. At issue: Does the 45-year-old with cerebral palsy need a feeding tube? Scotts relatives say the group home where he has lived for two decades told them it would not take him back without a feeding tube. His family says the medical procedure is unnecessary and would benefit group-home employees more than Scott. The struggle over the feeding tube, advocacy groups say, illustrates what can happen to people with disabilities when caregivers disagree about what is best for them. The family has filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department and contacted the Office of Human Rights within Virginias Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. In the meantime, Scott remains at Inova Loudoun Hospital, with his sister, Samantha Tunador, cataloguing each day on social media with the hashtag #takeAlexhome. Day 11, Tunador wrote April 10 on Facebook. I promise you Alex, we are doing everything we can to get you out of the hospital and back to your home. … Continue reading →