Creighton Rochlin

Children's Rehabilitation helps kids reach their highest level of physical ability

Creighton is all boy. He loves rockets, tractors, power tools, mowing the grass on the family’s ride-on mower, and watching his favorite science show, “Mythbusters.” This 7-year-old with cerebral palsy is also pumped to be able to walk better and be more physically independent. That’s because he recently underwent delicate spinal surgery and spent months working with Children’s Hospital Oakland’s inpatient pediatric rehabilitation therapists.

The first time Creighton stood up after the surgery was a moment of pride and wonder. “It makes me cry every time I think about it,” Creighton’s mother, Jennifer Rochlin shared. “He said, ‘Look Mommy, my feet are flat on the floor, just like yours are.’”
 
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurological disorder that permanently affects body movement and muscle coordination. Each year, about 10,000 babies are diagnosed with CP in the United States alone. While there is no cure, early and consistent treatment is key for children to optimally meet the challenges of this disorder. Treatment can include physical, occupational and speech therapy; medications to control seizures, muscle spasms, and alleviate pain; surgery to correct anatomical abnormalities or release tight muscles; and orthotic devices such as braces, crutches and wheelchairs.

Creighton has the most common type of CP—spastic diplegia—which affects the lower extremities causing an unsteady gait, problems with balance, scissor walking and toe walking. “When Cre was about 2 years old, his body was as stiff as a board,” recalled Jennifer. “He wasn’t crawling, or talking, and he had trouble eating and sitting upright.”

The Rochlins live in Sonoma and started physical therapy right away, so that Creighton could learn how to mindfully direct his body to do even the simple movements most of us take for granted.  “Almost nothing comes naturally for Cre,” Jennifer explained. “Every movement is a cognitive effort. Every day is exhausting—he has to sleep and eat a lot more, since he burns an incredible amount of calories.”

Creighton often uses a wheelchair for long-distance travel to conserve energy, and crutches or quad canes when he wants to walk, play, or if he is in his school classroom. “The wheelchair is great for some things, but it is sometimes a social and physical barrier, and it’s important for Cre to use his muscles as much as he can, or he will risk losing his motor abilities,” Jennifer noted.

But the muscles in Creighton’s legs are very tight and stiff, requiring him to walk on his toes instead with his feet flat on the ground. This toe-walking decreases his balance and stability, making walking much harder. The solution for Creighton was to come to the specialist neurosurgeons at Children’s Hospital Oakland to have spinal surgery—actually cutting the nerve that triggers the muscles that are in constant spasm, allowing Creighton’s heels to be flat on the floor.

After surgery, Creighton worked several hours every day for months with the in-hospital specialty physical therapists at Children’s. “The bar was raised, and Cre worked hard to meet the challenge to increase his life skills,” Jennifer said. “Not only did the wonderful physical therapists help him learn to walk again, they also prepared a stretching program for him to follow, which reduces the severity of CP symptoms. Occupational therapists taught him to become more comfortable with daily activities like showering and dressing—even making cookies! That kind of independence is crucial, especially as he gets older.”

The successful surgery and intensive therapy at Children’s made a dramatic impact in Creighton and his family’s life. “Cre can walk independently with crutches now,” Jennifer beamed. “He can interact with his classroom peers, face to face, which was impossible before. He performs daily tasks that he simply couldn’t do before. I want people to understand that when you support Children’s, you are absolutely changing the lives of so many families. It’s like the pebble dropped in the middle of a pond—the ripples go all the way out, touching everyone.”