The Perfect Hands Doctor

The doctor's office had a rectangular shape with three pale-yellow painted walls and a vibrant-burgundy one. By the door, to the left, was a computer sitting on a shelf, and next to it a counter with a tiny sink. The examination bed was against the corner, opposite to the door. There was only one painting, a colorful one, which had the big task of uplifting the visitors’ spirit while waiting for the doctor; in this case the visitors were Natacha, Valeria and I visiting Shriners Hospital for Children the first time in the cold month of March. The abstract painting, which resembled a puzzle with each piece of different color, was falling short in its purpose, but fortunately that changed when Dr. Dan A. Zlotolow, MD came in to the office.

Dr. Zlotolow  a hand surgeon of about 50 years old, with salt and pepper curly hair brought the energy the room was missing. His assistant, a tall man in his early thirties, joined him.

Dr. Zlotolow was eager to teach us as much as possible about Valeria’s case, for example he mentioned that in cases when a baby is born without thumbs, or mirror hands, he also has mirror forearms. That means that instead of having one radius and one ulna bone, he has the same bone duplicated. The elbow is not designed for that, so the baby has problems rotating the forearm. We turned to see Valeria, and she was throwing away big Lego pieces like a pitcher, so clearly her forearm bones were fine.

Then Dr. Alburger—the foot surgeon—entered the room; I felt honored to be in front of those two brilliant doctors, and seeing them discussing logistics like when the surgery could take place. Dr. Zlotolow said he could operate when Valeria turns a year and a half old. Dr. Alburger said he could operate right away.

"Are you saying you're so important you don't want to operate with me?" asked Dr. Zlotolow to Dr. Alburger who seemed not to enjoy the joke.

"That's what he meant right?" said Dr. Zlotolow talking to me.

"Yeah, that he meant." I responded, smiling.

Dr. Alburger left the room without smiling though, and I was just hoping I didn’t offend the man who was going to open the flesh of my precious daughter.

Dr. Zlotolow explained that waiting for the surgery was necessary because babies lack firm muscles in their hands when they’re less than 18 months old; their muscles are like spider webs, not strong enough for the stitches.

“Be patient,” said Dr. Zlotolow, "to operate her hands, I need you to give me a hand."

We smiled at this play of words; though Dr. Zlotolow s assistant didn't. I guessed he had heard the joke way too many times.

Dr. Alburger did his part in May with great results on Valeria’s feet—he was even smiley and supportive in the following visits. The postoperative period was extremely difficult though. In January is Dr. Zlotolow s turn to do his part; I know the postoperative period won’t be easy since Valeria uses her hands a lot, but having gone through the previous experience, we’re ready to stand up to anything.

Valeria taking Greta for a ride

African Spell

Natacha was with Valeria, playing at the Brooklyn Public Library's babies’ area; it was in plain winter before Valeria had feet surgery. Inside the building, which has an extremely tall entrance, inspired by ancient Egyptian architecture, a nanny approached her with strong interest; she was an older lady from Africa, who noticed Valeria's hands.

"Her feet, are they also like that?" asked the lady to Natacha enthusiastically.

"Yes, and she's having surgery very soon", responded Natacha.

"She doesn't need surgery; she's having surgery because you want to," said the lady in a firm tonality, turning upset.

"She's a blessed baby," added the lady. "In Africa, babies who are born with extra fingers are admired; they become great strong persons, destined to control their own future".

I found it extremely peculiar that somebody questioned whether Valeria really needed the surgeries. The lady’s beliefs went against the general common sense. It was a possibility that had never been brought up to the table.

Still, one has to be pragmatic, and ponder what’s best in the long run. In term of her feet; although Valeria was able to stand up with easiness; they were different from each other, and were going to cause her to walk unevenly, affecting her hip; one leg was going to put more pressure than the other. That might be fine for a short period of time, but after thirty years it'd definitely would have taken a toll on her.

In term of the hands, although she’s able to hold things without difficulty, she's going to have a wider range to grasp objects.

The conversation with that lady should have passed as unnoticed if it wasn't because Valeria had never gotten sick before the surgery. She was nine months old when she went into the operating room, and by then I had never seen her falling ill. I felt fortunate, especially because my first son, Gianluca, now fourteen years old, had fallen ill a few times by then, which was normal.

Two months after the surgery, Valeria has gotten the cold twice, and an ear infection once; in a way. I know she needs to get sick in order to get her immune system up to date to defend herself from the germs of the world, but I'm still somewhat amazed that she previously had never gotten sick. I hope that by removing what made her special I didn't remove any spell that gave any magical protection.