We've Found the Right Children Hospital

The first time we heard the term “mirror foot” came from Dr. Miki of the Miami Children Hospital. He also told Natacha and I that he could operate the hands and create the thumbs—which made us extremely happy since we didn't know it could be done—but would have to find a foot surgeon in Miami, who specialized in what we needed. We told him about our wish of having Valeria’s surgery in that city, where we have family, but he made a comment that completely changed the course of our search, “if Valeria were my daughter, I’d take her to Shriners,” he said.

Shiners Hospital for Children is one of the top health care centers in the world, specializing in orthopedics, burn care, cleft lip and palate, and spinal cord injury. They also stand out for their warm hospitality; they showcase that on their website, and after meeting them, we concur with it.

But before knowing them, and right after seeing Dr. Miki, we first focused on researching about “mirror foot” and Shriners Hospital.

On “mirror foot,” we found out how rare the case was; it’s usually associated with different syndromes; fortunately Valeria, who has gone through detailed genealogical tests at the New York Presbyterian Hospital, has shown no positive signs of syndromes at all.

We found also different articles about some successfully treated cases, and one of them called our attention; it was about Hidehiko Kawabata, M.D. Vice President, of the Japanese Society for Surgery of the Hand. We contacted him with a long email, explaining our case as best as possible; he responded with a short and concise line, “I recommend Dr. Scott of Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia.”

From Dr. Kawabata’s email along with Dr. Miki’s strong advice and some research of ours, we realized how important Shriners Hospital was. Now, we had to contact them, and really hope they would take our case.

And they did it.

Valeria and Natacha at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia

Stepping Up to Correct a Mirror Foot

La Havana, Thursday January 31st 2013

"What are the risks of the surgery? I asked Dr. Salles. "There could be a problem with a nerve or a vein." He responded. "But there's only a 2 or 3 percent chance that something will wrong."

With a 97% chance of success in correcting in Cuba the feet of Valeria, my 6 month-old daughter, I’ll go back to the U.S. pleased with this good option; still, the search for the right doctor for Valeria must continue.

Dr. Vitale, from the New York Presbyterian Hospital was the first doctor we visited right after Valeria was born, and he was honest. Dr. Miki, from the Miami Children Hospital was the second doctor, and he was encouraging, honest and provided an excellent alternative.

Valeria's case is extremely unusual. Her left foot is a mirror foot; that's is; if you put the inner part of your foot next to a mirror, the reflection would seem part of your food; for her, it is. Researching for similar cases, I’ve only found 28 such cases in the world, and only seven, which have been treated.

Her right foot has an extra toe with a little finger growing out of it; like a brunch from a tree. Both of her hands lack thumbs; instead she has an extra index finger in each hand.

The lacking of thumbs hasn’t stop Valeria from holding her baby bottle since she was 5 months old; insisting on getting my phone into her mouth, and pulling poor Greta’s hair, our little maltipoo, that only reacts by crying. For these reasons I know Valeria will be able to do anything in life that she proposes.

Valeria and Natacha in Miami

Her hair hasn’t grown yet, so Natacha and I are crossing our fingers; I want her to have hair, and Natacha wants hers. I’m a happy that until now she looks like me. “I had never seen a baby who looks a lot like her dad,” said an immigration officer at La Havana airport. “ Her name should be ValeGina”, said an aunt of Natacha, referring to my name Gino. She’s got her mother’s deep black eyes, which are very important because they’re crucial to define a person; she also has Natacha’s button nose.

It’s incredible the joy that Valeria has brought to us; it now depends on us to make her as possible as we can; that’s why we’re in Natacha’s country, Cuba, well recognized for its health system, meeting doctors until we can determine who is the perfect doctor for Valeria.

Valeria and I at the Hotel Nacional in La Havana, Cuba