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Surgery completed on Baby Noor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Iraqi baby brought to Atlanta for life-changing surgery is out of the operating room and recovering at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Surgeons finished their work about 10:30 a.m., three hours after they began. They plan to discuss the baby’s condition at a press conference at 4:30 p.m. today.
The surgery was undertaken to repair a portion of 3-month-old Noor al-Zahra’s spinal cord that did not fully form during her mother’s pregnancy. They also hope to remove a mass of skin that has grown up around the cord.
The doctors predict success but envision Noor spending her life in a wheelchair with limited control of her bladder and bowels.
“Our best scenario is that she will be a paraplegic,” said Dr. Roger Hudgins, the hospital’s top neurosurgeon, who will perform most of the surgery.
Yet, her future has brightened immeasurably since Georgia National Guard soldiers in Iraq discovered her on a raid last month. Iraqi doctors told Noor’s family they could not help her and that she would likely not live long.
Soldiers from a Gainesville-based unit of the 48th Brigade Combat Team made connections that led to today’s surgery.
“She’s as personable as any 3-month-old I’ve ever seen,” Hudgins said. “She’ll grab your finger. She coos and does all the right things.”
He said he has explained the surgery to Noor’s father and grandmother, who accompanied her to Atlanta.
“The questions they asked were very thoughtful and insightful,” he said. “They got it as well as any parent would get it.”
Hudgins said there is “a 99 percent chance” Noor will survive. He planned to repair the damaged spinal cord, put it in its proper place and remove a mass of skin about 5 inches long and 3 inches wide.
“That skin makes the surgery technically difficult,” he said, “but it’s probably what saved her life.”
Noor suffers from a severe form of spina bifida, an ailment that caused part of her spinal cord to protrude through her back. Hudgins said he believes the skin that encased her cord helped prevent infection.
Intense follow-up needed
Hudgins said doctors and nurses will monitor Noor for signs of a fluid build-up in her head and back, which happens in roughly 90 percent of similar spina bifida cases. If fluid does accumulate, Hudgins plans to perform a second surgery Wednesday to insert a shunt, a type of drainage tube.
At some later date, Hudgins said, doctors at Children’s Healthcare probably will perform a third surgery to reposition Noor’s bladder and let urine empty through an opening doctors will create below the baby’s belly button.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which is donating its medical services to Noor, keeps tabs on several hundred spina bifida patients at any given time. Noor stands out because she suffers from a severe form of the birth defect and because she will need intense follow-up care after returning to war-torn Iraq.
Someone will have to monitor the shunt Hudgins expects to insert in Noor. If it clogs and fluid builds up, Noor could die, Hudgins said. In Iraq, she will need access to a neurosurgeon able to unclog the shunt if problems surface. In addition, she will need to see a urologist to deal with whatever bladder issues may arise, he added.
Her family, like relatives of anyone with paralysis, will have to keep an eye on Noor to make sure she has not accidentally hurt her legs, where she has no feeling. Doctors at Children’s Healthcare have treated paralyzed patients who were accidentally cut or burned but did not immediately know it.
Noor also is at risk as she gets older of developing scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, Hudgins said.
“This child is going to have a long, hard road,” said Jim Okula of Atlanta, past president of the Spina Bifida Association of Georgia. “What is the health care going to be like in Iraq?”
Malady gets attention
Though precise figures have proven elusive, Okula said, the association estimates that 1,100 to 1,700 people in Georgia suffer from spina bifida. Parents with affected children often have trouble paying medical bills. Those who live far from Atlanta may have a hard time reaching a spina bifida clinic held several times a month at Children’s Healthcare.
One positive aspect of the Baby Noor case, in Okula’s view, is that more people are hearing about spina bifida, which occurs in roughly one of every 2,000 live births in the United States, according to the March of Dimes.
Baby Noor’s case has given the association a chance to tell people how to prevent spina bifida — women who plan to become pregnant should take folic acid in a supplement or by drinking orange juice or eating oranges, dried beans and legumes, or leafy green vegetables.
“This is indeed helping us raise awareness,” Okula said.
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Comments
By Hannah Milford
January 9, 2006 12:13 AM | Link to this
Thank you to all the soldiers who helped save this little miracle baby’s life! May God Bless you all as hes guides the hands of the doctors performing her surgery and taking care of Little Noor!
By 48th Wife
January 9, 2006 12:55 AM | Link to this
Heavenly Father, Guide the hands that will care for this precious baby. Give peace to her family, especially to her mother. Bless all the soldiers who’s hopes and prayers for this precious baby are being realized. Bless us all with the same selfless love that has gotten baby Noor this far. This is the kind of love that brings real Peace. Amen
By Beverly Thomas
January 9, 2006 01:50 AM | Link to this
God be with you SweetBaby Girl.
By Lew Morris
January 9, 2006 07:08 AM | Link to this
so now that you’ve taking care of baby noor, what are you gointg to do about the american babies that are poor and need madical help, let them suffer their whole life. Lew
By Adrienne
January 9, 2006 09:13 AM | Link to this
I pray for little Noor’s quick recovery..Her story and pictures have truly touched my heart..She is a beautiful child and I hope she lives a long, healthy, and happy life..
By concerned
January 9, 2006 09:24 AM | Link to this
It is a sad day when someone begrudges a precious child getting a life-saving operation. If everyone could just show the love and compassion that the 121st showed when they found this baby the world would be a much better place.
By Co C 1/121 Soldier
January 9, 2006 09:26 AM | Link to this
Mr. Lew Morris, If ANYONE asks us for help, we WILL do what is right, regardless of race, religion, or nationality. Unfortunately, we don’t have access to american babies at the moment, so please forgive us.
By shelvia
January 9, 2006 09:41 AM | Link to this
I agree with you 100 percent. It is a sad day in AMERICA when people born and raised here get turned down because they have no insurance or not enough coverage, but they fly in a child that seemingly suffers from what some American children suffer from daily and give the a FREE operation. That is obscene. America needs to desperately learn to take care home first and them worry about others.
By Brenda
January 9, 2006 09:56 AM | Link to this
This is for Lew
Sir, American babies have parent(s) who have the opportunity to get them very good medical care. Let’s not question the goodness of the doctors in Atlanta, or the soldiers who found this adorable little girl and wanted to do anything in their power to make sure that she makes it. I have a 10-year-old son with cerebral palsy and I have access to excellent medical care for him.
By rebekah white
January 9, 2006 10:11 AM | Link to this
To help the helpless is quite easy; it does not require the National Guard. Just look around you and reach out your hand, Mr Morris.
By Ycobb
January 9, 2006 10:52 AM | Link to this
First i would like to say we are all thankful, I wish Baby Noor and her family the best of luck and i would like to let them now my prayers are with them upon the surgery. She is so beautiful and i would also like to give thanks to the troops who found the baby and having the good courage to help this family. I will be praying for the family and the beautiful baby!! Good Luck and stay STRONG
By Mary Mrugalski
January 9, 2006 10:57 AM | Link to this
Yes, America needs better healthcare for all. But that does not mean that this child’s life is not worth saving as well. As the mother of a beautiful, intelligent, 18 year old, who is on her way to college to study music as a violinist and who also happens to have Spina Bifida, I can tell you from experience that she would not be facing the bright future that she faces today had she been denied access to necessary medical care.
By James
January 9, 2006 10:57 AM | Link to this
Waste of time, waste of money, and a lost cause. We’re at war, and this publicity stunt is not part of the mission.
By Jim
January 9, 2006 11:01 AM | Link to this
I salute Co C 1/121 for the act of grace & kindness for Baby Noor. Their deed is understood clearly among the Iraqi people. It demonstrates Americans’ concern for ‘even the least of them.” Dismiss the critics summarily.
By Antoine
January 9, 2006 11:13 AM | Link to this
This is such a jaded piece of propoganda to make yourselves feel better for the mass murders your government and your brain-washed soldiers have commited in Iraq. Hurray! your boys have saved one baby out of the thousands more they have indiscriminately bombed to death and the millions more who will be deformed and die from the DU munitions radiation.
I shouldn’t even bother writing to you because you all just don’t care.
This paper is such a naked propoganda tool.
Keep up the bad work!
By Kim
January 9, 2006 11:44 AM | Link to this
Yes…it’s a blessing for this child to have been taken care of be saved and I don’t believe anyone is begrudging the baby; blessing and well wishes to her and her family. However…look at the statistics…1 in 2,000 births right here in the USA…’Are each of these babies receiving free medical attention?’..doubtful.
I’m sure the medical expenses associated with spina bifida are enoromous…so much so that I didn’t recieve my first surgery for the condition until i was 2 years old ~ 34 years ago.
It’s not begrudging the baby…she is just the poster child for all the ‘right’ the US in doing in Iraq.
By 48th Wife
January 9, 2006 11:56 AM | Link to this
Mr. Lew Morris, and others who would grumble. I have a question for you- WHAT ARE YOU DOING? We should always seek to do good when it is in our power to do so. Many good things will come of this- for American children as well. You know the need now- WHAT WILL YOU DO? God has used this precious baby to teach us all something that will bless us if we take the time to get it. I pray that you and others like you will take the time to get it. If you do the world will be a better place.
By Brendan
January 9, 2006 12:10 PM | Link to this
I am the father of a baby who needed Dr. Hudgins’s skill on two surgeries and the efforts of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on at least four occasions. Dr. Hudgins is a gifted surgeon and a compassionate person. I am not aware of any children being denied his surgical skills based upon the parents’ ability to pay. We know that Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta works with people who have no health insurance to make sure that their children are treated professionally, without regard to the parents’ ability to pay. Each night, we pray for God to help children such as Baby Noor, to help their families, and to bless all those who are devoting their efforts on behalf of these children. Yes, our medical system needs some work, but let’s not take away from the wonderful generosity shown by Dr. Hudgins and the team at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. We will continue to pray for Baby Noor and all the children who need healthcare.
By Sherri
January 9, 2006 12:42 PM | Link to this
Baby Noor couldn’t ask for a better Neurosurgeon in Dr. Hudgins! He has performed many surgeries on my own daughter! God bless Dr. Hudgins and all those who helped bring Noor the help she needed!
By Jamessia Ward
January 9, 2006 12:51 PM | Link to this
God bless this innocent baby as you see fit. Our heavenly father please allow this young child to have a painless and speedy recovery. Allow a miracle to be done here on this baby. Please Jesus I rebuke the devil the name of jesus I say Amen. Readers continue to pray and have faith and God wil make a way for you and baby Noor. Jamessia Ward
By Valeria
January 9, 2006 12:52 PM | Link to this
I think that it is awesome what the soldiers have done. I am an American single mother with 2 children who are fortunately very healthy but they do have excellent health care. Peachcare is a very affordable option for those who cannot provide or afford healthcare. I am a veteran of the USAF and I applaude the caring and concern that our fine soldiers are displaying in a country that is not even their own. Many of them, I am sure have not even seen their families in months. God Bless each and every one of those involved in helping out this poor child!
By Docjiro
January 9, 2006 12:58 PM | Link to this
As a physician, I think Lew’s point is a valid one. I didn’t get the sense that he was indicting anyone for trying to help a child in need —- just making a general comment about the state of healthcare in the US. The system is broken —— and no, it is not equal, not everyone can get the same access to (or the quality) of healthcare in this country. It’s probably similar to the socioeconomics of those who even has access to this blog….I suspect there are less of those souls who can afford health care that have the internet access to respond to this argument. They are even underrepresented in this discussion.
By Allan LaBarre
January 9, 2006 01:00 PM | Link to this
Maybe we all need to be more like the soldiers of the 48th by taking action when we see a need. If we see children within our own borders that need help, maybe we need to be as proactive as the soldiers of the 48th and make miracles happen on the home front. We should not even begin to criticize what these soldiers have done since they made the effort to make a difference in one child’s life. How many childrens’ lives could be made better if we all put forth the same effort that these honorable soldiers put forth.
By K
January 9, 2006 01:04 PM | Link to this
I have to agree w/Lew. Part of the problem in this country is that we spend more time fixing other coutries problems instead of our own. Not everyone in this country can afford childcare like Brenda can. Let’s take care of our own first for a change & then worry about other places. However, since this is apparently a done deal I do wish baby Noor the best, hope she has a speedy recovery & an even faster trip back to her homeland.
By Brenda
January 9, 2006 01:19 PM | Link to this
This is for Shelvia. I don’t know what is up with you and Lew. People in the states have access to medical care, REGARDLESS of their financial state. It upsets me to NO end to read these kinds of letters. The doctor at the Children’s Hospital is giving up his own time, when he could be making plenty of money to do this surgery for this adorable baby girl. His heart is in the right place. Look around you, Shelvia. People do things out of the GOODNESS of their hearts.
By Suzannah
January 9, 2006 01:23 PM | Link to this
Well try finding a specialist to help your child when you have no insurance…and try finding the money to get a cleft palate repaired (when doctors are going overseas to repair them on foreign babies) or try to see a dentist when you have no money or insurance….you’ll find out just difficult it is. I pray for Baby Noor but I pray harder for these poor children in America..who are in the “Land of Opportunity” but have none :(( Sad day