Young patient born with spina bifida looks forward to coming to his appointments at CHoR because he gets to see his friend, the surgeon who performed his bladder surgery.
Josiah Jukkola is seven years old, full of energy and so excited to be at the hospital, despite having needed extensive medical care his entire life. He was diagnosed with spina bifida when his mom was 20 weeks into her pregnancy.
What is spina bifida?
Spina bifida is a birth defect where the spinal cord doesn’t develop normally in the womb and can cause multiple medical issues. Many patients with spina bifida benefit from our multispecialty care. For Josiah, the condition severely impacted his bladder, making his kidneys unable to drain properly, causing leakage and putting him at risk for infection, even kidney failure. That’s what led him to Dr. Tony Herndon, our chief of urology and surgeon-in-chief at CHoR.
Up until this year, Josiah didn’t have the bladder control kids his age need to be active, play and just be a kid. To remedy that, back in March, Dr. Herndon performed a procedure to correct the issue by essentially building a bladder out of bowel that allows urine to be collected properly. He also formed a stoma that allows Josiah to drain his urine using a catheter a few times a day. The operation can take 10 to 12 hours and recovery can take weeks, but in the end greatly improves quality of life.
“It really changes the lives of the kids who have this medical condition,” Dr. Herndon explained. “He is dry of urine for the first time in his life and he’s doing tremendously well; he is taking ownership of his body at a very young age and we’re so proud of him.”
A friendship is born at CHoR
It was during Josiah's recovery, when he was in the hospital for a month, that he and Dr. Herndon started to build the connection they have today. While there were frequent visits prior to the surgery, they interacted even more while Josiah was recovering.
“We see them twice a day when they're in the hospital,” explained Dr. Herndon. “You develop a special bond because you're connected.”
Josiah’s parents think it’s more than that.
"Dr. Herndon went above and beyond for us," said Casey Jukkola, Josiah's mom. "Their personalities are similar, and Josiah looks forward to coming here every time. He knows which person he is supposed to see and that makes him more excited."
10 minutes of magic between a boy and his surgeon
It wasn’t the doctor’s treatments or the life-changing surgery that cemented the bond between Dr. Herndon and his patient. It was air hockey.
Ann Roper, a registered nurse in our urology department, watched the friendship take hold across the air hockey table on the day of Josiah’s discharge when he got to visit our Child Life Zone. She called it 10 minutes of magic.
“Despite a busy urology clinic and quick room turnovers, Dr. Herndon made time for a quick game of air hockey,” Ann recalled. “He and Josiah have become best buddies and now share such a sweet friendship. I think it says a lot about a physician who stops to take that kind of time with a patient. That ten minutes meant a lot.”
“I just brought him down here to see something different than the floor he'd been on the whole time,” Dr. Herndon remembered. “I didn't know at the time, but he clearly loves air hockey, so I think he thought the zone was built for him, and when we came down there just had the best time.”
Child Life Zone – a place where kids can simply be kids in the hospital
The Child Life Zone is an area designated for inpatients to give them a therapeutic play space away from their hospital rooms. It provides a different kind of care for kids. They can play games, make crafts and enjoy the arcade and gaming lounge. It’s the place where the 10 minutes of magic happened.
“It’s why we built the zone,” Dr. Herndon said. “It really provides a positive outlet for the kids that come in and may go through a tough operation and recovery. It helps get them through it and he still cherishes that moment.”
Find out more about the nationally ranked urology care provided by Dr. Herndon and his colleagues at CHoR.
