Page last updated on: 04/30/2004 10:10 PM
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Joey was born on April 16, 1999 at St. John's Medical Center. He had many problems when he arrived. He was born without an external left ear, called Microtia. He has no ear canal, but DOES have some hearing in that ear (15% of normal). His radius (the inside bone of your lower arm) was shorter than usual, which led to him missing a thumb on his left hand. His wrist was bent so bad that the palm of his left hand could touch his forearm. He also had two holes in his heart. One was between the atria (the top chambers in the heart), called an ASD, or Atrial Septal Defect. The other was between the ventricles, called a VSD, or Ventricular Septal Defect. These closed up on their own, and a year later he got a clean bill of health from his pediatric cardiologist.
Joey's has some spinal malformations, also. A few of his vertebrae aren't
shaped correctly, so his orthopaedic surgeon is going to watch him for
scoliosis. He's in the clear so far, so everybody keep him in your
prayers. Joey did have two surgeries before
he
was two years old. The first one was to transfer some muscles across
his wrist to keep it straight. About five months later, he had another
surgery to make him a thumb. The doctors actually broke his index finger
and rotated it around to make a thumb. Now he only has three fingers and a
thumb on his left hand, but at least now he can grasp things. Believe
me...he can surely grasp things. He swings a baseball bat and golf club
like a pro. About a week after he got his cast off from the thumb surgery,
he was picking sesame seeds off the table with his new thumb and "index finger".
He's adapted rather nicely to his new thumb, and still remembers when he "had
that blue cast on his arm".
He also had a "tethered cord" which he had to have released. Right before Thanksgiving of 2003, he went to Children's Hospital in St. Louis to have the surgery. A tethered cord happens when the bottom of your spinal cord is attached at the bottom to either the spinal column or a fatty deposit. It's supposed to "hang free", and if it's tethered, can lead to problems such as incontinence and loss of feeling in the legs. He had to lie flat on his back for seven days straight, and he did it without complaining. He was our trooper, and learned how to play Playstation during that time. Not only did it keep him occupied, but it's also good therapy for his left thumb. He has a 3 to 4 inch scar in the middle of his lower back - another scar for the girls to look at.
We just got back from visiting Mr. Robert Barron in Virginia (4/28/04). Mr. Barron is making Joey a prosthetic ear, and due to some fortunate timing, the Morning Show on CBS was there interviewing Mr. Barron. They wanted to include him working on Joey as part of a segment that will air on May 14, 2004 at 8:00 CST. We're so excited, and we want to thank the Variety Club for generously agreeing to pay for Joey's ear. To see some other work Mr. Barron has done, please click HERE. He is an amazing man, and we are truly blessed that he's helping Joey. Thank you, Robert Barron, our HERO.
Here are some pictures of Joey showing his hand/ear, and with Mr. Barron:
