Published: July 08, 2008 11:55 am      

Family hurries to fund spinal surgery for Oakland boy

OAKLAND - Fundraisers continue for 5-year-old Justyn White of Oakland. Justyn needs spinal surgery that could prevent him from being in a wheelchair in his adult years.

"The bottom line is, he's going to end up in a wheelchair by the time he's a teenager," said Diane White, Justyin's grandmother. "If it's not done before he's 6 years old, the chance of it working drops from 75 percent to 25 percent. The younger you are, the better it works."

Justyn was born two months premature, suffering from brain hemorrhages that resulted in cerebral palsy.

On Sunday beginning at noon, a spaghetti dinner at the Southern Garrett Rescue Squad will help raise money to pay for the expense of Justyn's surgery and hospital stay.

Diane said her grandson has received physical therapy since he was 2 months old, as well as Botox injections, casting and braces. Despite this, she said, his condition is getting worse.

Justyn's mother, Michelle, said research into how to improve Justyn's condition found selective dorsal rhizotomy surgery would be the best option for her son. However, the doctor who can perform the surgery on a child Justyn's age with cerebral palsy is located in St. Louis.

"I feel very comfortable with him," Michelle said. "He's done 1,600 selective dorsal rhizotomy surgeries and never had any complications. I have that actually documented from him. He's done the surgery for over 20 years."

The surgery involves going into the spinal cord and clipping the nerves to release the elasticity in them. Michelle said otherwise, his legs may never be able to grow. She said by the time he is an adult, this could mean many orthopedic surgeries and the possibility of being in a wheelchair.

However, Maryland Medicaid will not pay for the surgery, Michelle said. Because a similar surgery is available at Johns Hopkins, they will not pay for Justyn to be taken out of state. Michelle said the Maryland doctor would not do the surgery on someone his age.

Diane added that if the surgery had been available at Johns Hopkins, it would have involved five of Justyn's vertebrae, while the surgery performed at the St. Louis Children's Hospital would involve only one.

The total cost for the surgery and the hospital stay will be $38,000, and Diane said that they will need to get the money to the hospital by July 17. This is why, she said, they have been holding fundraisers and trying to find any type of program to help cover the costs.

Local businesses, organizations and residents have helped, Diane said. Already, they have auctioned a quilt, guns and held a three-day yard sale. There was even a motorcycle poker run done for Justyn's benefit, but they are still thousands of dollars shy of the funding necessary for the surgery.

An account to benefit Justyn has been established at Wepco Federal Credit Union.

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.