Personal Reflections

Of all the chapters discussed throughout the duration of the course, this unit struck me the most since the topic really resonated with me. With this, instead of providing a summary of the entire chapter, let me tell you my personal story.

I was born with two unique things: first, I was born with a tooth (which means that I was considered as a cute baby in the hospital's nursery section) and second, I was born with myelomenigocele spina bifida, a type of neural tube defect. When spina bifida was briefly mentioned in the chapter, I knew that I wanted to read more about my prior condition. To simply put it, my spinal cord developed outside of my body so I had to undergo a surgical operation at two days old. Undergoing such an operation was a big risk especially at that time since the doctors here in the province were not as familiar with the condition before. My spina bifida was also not visible during the prenatal screening and fetal ultrasound. I can only imagine what my family must have felt at that time.

Spina Bifida is not common. Spina bifida has occurring rates ranging from 0.1 to 5 per 1,000 births in different countries. It happens in about 0.4 out of every 1,000 births in developed countries, including the United States (Kondo et al., 2008). This uncommon occurrence is probably the reason why doctors were nervous to handle my case 18 years ago. This condition is thought to be the result of both hereditary and environmental influences. Pregnancy-related folic acid insufficiency is also a major factor. In my case, what caused my spina bifida was my mom's folic acid deficiency. To add to the information stated, certain anti-seizure drugs, obesity, and poorly controlled diabetes are also associated with an increased risk. Alcohol abuse may lead to macrocytosis, a condition in which folate is discarded.

My family told me that my attending pediatrician bluntly expressed the possibilities of not being able to walk, speak, stand, and even have other neurological and/or developmental problems. This was the reason why I was sheltered growing up. My family was afraid that a simple stumble or trip would cause greater problems in my development. I was advised by my doctors not to play contact sports so I never learned how to play those sports. My family also made the extra effort so that I can speak and walk. They always engaged in conversations with me so that I would be able to speak on time. However, it took me a while to develop my ability to walk because I was already two years old when I learned how to walk.

My birth defect is one of the reasons why I highly empathize with kids who were born with developmental disorders because somehow, I know what it is like to be hindered by something you cannot control. This is the reason why I want to help kids with special conditions because I firmly believe that they deserve to participate actively in society despite their physical conditions.