Living life to the fullest after numerous operations

When I was 33 weeks pregnant with my son, we discovered that he had a brain abnormality – a condition called a partial agenesis of the corpus callosum, which occurs when a part of the brain doesn’t develop normally in the womb. He also had a number of cysts lodged between the hemispheres of his brain, causing water on the brain (or hydrocephalus as it’s known medically).

The day after he was born, our son, Eli Báo was transferred from the Centre hospitalier de l’Université Laval (CHUL) to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, where he was seen by neurosurgeon Dr. Jeffrey Atkinson and his team. At just four days old, he was wheeled in to surgery to install a shunt that would help relieve the pressure on his brain. It was incredibly difficult to hand over our tiny baby for an operation.

His first year of life was fraught with many challenges as he underwent 8 operations in total and endured lengthy hospitalizations lasting weeks at a time, taking us far away from the close comforts of family and friends in Québec. Fortunately, it’s now all behind us! Eli Báo is now a funny, active, and happy 3-year old boy, who lights up every room he enters. We are very proud of him and we will never be able to adequately express our gratitude to Dr. Atkinson and his team, and all nurses on 7C. Thank you!