Family rejoices after procedure helps son keep his ability to walk

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Imagine being told by a doctor that your child has a spinal issue that will eventually cause him to lose his ability to walk, and there is nothing they can do to help.

Well, that is what the Witt family faced until they found Dr. Jea at OU Children's Hospital.

Mason Witt has been nothing short of resilient after his family was told he would wake up one day and no longer be able to walk.

However, his family didn't accept that and began a journey to find a solution.

"There's going to be a day you wake up and you're just you're not going to be able to walk and your wheelchair is going to be with you for the rest of your life. How do you prepare your son for that?" Samantha Witt, Mason's mother said.

Since birth, Mason Witt's life has been anything but simple.

"After he had lifesaving heart surgery at seven days old, he had a lipoma that formed on his lower back, which he didn't have before," Samantha said. "That's when we found out that he was born with a tethered spinal cord and that he was going to need surgery to fix that."

At eight months old, Mason had surgery for his spinal cord and were told he wouldn't need another procedure, but turns out that wasn't true.

"He started having symptoms of typical tethered cord symptoms; weakness in the legs, pain couldn't walk for very long without having to take a break or his legs would give out on him," Samantha said.

Once again his spinal cord tethered, with the outlook of fixing it, grim.

"We kind of were told that we had two options; we could either find a doctor who would be willing to perform another surgery on him, or we could just start preparing Mason for the fact that he was going to lose his ability to walk," Samantha said.

At six years old, Mason's parents started searching in multiple states for someone who could operate on Mason, but didn't have any luck. That is until they found Dr. Jea at OU Children's Hospital.

"We came out and he was the first person to look at us and say, 'I can help your son', and the first person that was giving us even a glimmer of hope," Samantha said.

"Mason has a history of spinal bifida and about 30% to 40% of kids that have spinal bifida undergo an initial repair, can develop secondary tether cord syndrome," Dr. Andrew Jea, Interim Chair of Neurosurgery and Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at OU Children's Hospital said.

"So, if you imagine the spinal cord like a rubber band, and as it gets stretched tight, that's tether cords syndrome and a spinal cord under tension doesn't work properly."

Dr. Jea says the traditional treatment for Mason's spinal issue is a ticking clock on when the next problem will occur, which is why he believes other doctors were turning him away after Mason already went through multiple procedures.

"What happens there is every time you do that, it just starts the time clock to the next tethering event," Dr. Jea said. "Every time you do surgery like that, the risks of surgery go up and the actual ability to untether the spinal cord goes down."

However, they have a newer procedure they do that he says has shown significant results.

"Spinal column shortening is a new way of thinking about treatment for tethered cord," Dr. Jea said. "So, if we go back to that example of a spinal cord that's tethered as a tight rubber band between two points, and if you shorten that distance that the rubber band needs to travel, it takes the tension off the rubber band."

The results are amazing. Mason is feeling little to no pain. He can walk, run, swim, anything he wants to do, and Dr. Jea says while another surgery down the road is possible, it is unlikely.

"At this point, he's pretty much on autopilot," Dr. Jea said. "So, he has resolution of all of the symptoms now, it's just a matter of periodic follow up with imaging to make sure that everything continues being fine."

The Witt family is beyond thankful.

"The things that it has brought back to Mason's life and the pain that it is relieved and him still being able to walk; I mean, it's hard to put that into words," Samantha said.

Samantha says Mason is clear to do any kid activity. They will come back in a year for a checkup, but say Mason is relieved to hear he shouldn't have to go through any more procedures, because he is ready to get back to doing the things he loves.