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Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Baby Noor making progress
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A check-up Tuesday of Baby Noor, the Iraqi infant airlifted to Atlanta surgery on Jan. 9, showed she is making progress, hospital officials said.
Dr. Roger Hudgins, chief neurosurgeon at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, removed a tube that had drained fluid from the baby’s back, the hospital said in a statement. Noor is said to be in good condition and is healing well.
In a few weeks, Dr. Andrew Kirsch, a urologist at Children’s Healthcare, plans to examine Noor to assess her bladder function. Doctors have said a second surgery is possible to reposition her bladder and create an opening an inch or two below her belly button; urine would empty through the opening. The goal is to make life more convenient for Noor, who is paralyzed below the waist and has no control of her bladder and may have to wear a diaper for many years.
Born with a severe form of spina bifida, Noor seemed destined to die in a slum near Baghdad until Georgia-based National Guard soldiers took an interest in her. They made contacts and pulled strings that led to a rare trip out of Iraq for Noor, her father and grandmother.
Noor’s grandmother said she is pleased with the baby’s progress.
“It is a blessing to see Noor so happy now that her condition is improving with each passing day,” she said, according to the hospital’s statement.
