This very methodical and cold excuse for a doctor totally forgot his bedside manners to fill me in on what was really the truth that no one else had had the courage to tell me. My baby had been born with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. For those unfamiliar with this condition, I would like to use some excerpts from various information sites for they can better explain it than I can. The damage is permanent. Spina Bifida is usually accompanied by hydrocephalus.
Treatment is urgent to minimize further neurological damage in the opening in the spine.
Meningocele - the spinal cord develops normally, but the meninges protrudes from the opening created by damaged or missing vertebrae and may be exposed. Occulta - one or more vertebrae are malformed, and covered by a layer of skin. Infants born with SB sometimes have an open lesion on their spine where the significant damage to the nerves and spinal cord has occured. Although the spinal opening is surgically repaired shortly after birth, the nerve damage is permanent. This results in varying degrees of paralysis of the lower limbs, depending largely on the location and severity of the lesion.