Cerebral Palsy is a broad term that covers a wide range of brain injuries, and for that reason when a child is diagnosed with the disease, many don't know what the future holds.

HELEN DEVOS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, GRAND RAPIDS -- Cerebral Palsy is a broad term that covers a wide range of brain injuries, and for that reason when a child is diagnosed with the disease,  many don't know what the future holds.

A Northern Michigan family knows first hand the uncertainty the disease can bring. Lisa Dziesinski's son, Matt, was diagnosed when he was just nine months old. "It was right before Christmas time and the doctor called and said Matt has Cerebral Palsy.  We just thought we had all the worst ahead of us." Now thirteen years old, Matt proves everyday he can accomplish anything despite his disability.  The Dziesinski family lives in Alpena, and Lisa says they learned right away Cerebral Palsy can have a wide range of affects. "It wasn't anything they could tell us right away, because they didn't know." 

Doctor Michael Forness,  with the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, has worked with Matt for the past eleven years. He has focused his practice on helping Cerebral Palsy patients and their families deal with the everyday challenges. "It can often cause motor problems in the child, which we then try to treat to improve the child's quality of life. It can often make their muscles very spastic, very weak at times. It can also cause poor balance."  

There are several risk factors for developing Cerebral Palsy. Those include prematurity, trauma, or malnutrition, but Doctor Forness warns,  there is no direct cause and effect.  Many times parents and the primary care physician first notice delays in a toddlers ability of sitting, walking, or speech difficulties. These milestone delays will be watched closely and will possibly lead to a visit with a Pediatric Neurologist to make a diagnoses. Once a child reaches the age of seven or eight,  doctors at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital will do a gate analysis to determine the best surgical route. The Gate Lab is a shared resource with Mary Freebed Rehabilitation Hospital. The multi-million dollar lab is the only one in the State of Michigan. "We watch the children walk and determine which surgeries we can offer" says Doctor Forness  "in the old days doctors used to do a surgery one year and then another.  We used to call them birthday surgeries.  Now we have one surgery and one recovery."

For checkups, Northern Michigan families don't always have to make the trek to Grand Rapids. Doctor Forness travels to Traverse City every eight weeks to make sure patients in the Upper Peninsula and surrounding communities have access to treatments. "Access to care is an issue.  Half of our children last year were on Medicaid,  so poverty is a big problem.  Gasoline for a twelve hour round trip is a big issue, by going up there I hope I can help the kids get seen on a regular basis." It is that patient connection that Doctor Forness says puts everything in perspective. "I can't say any child in my practice feels sorry for themselves. They just just want to get from point A to point B and anything we can do to help them get there,  they're tickled.  So it is truly a joy taking care of them."