Latest procedure sees Phoebe looking to future
The family of a brave Tattershall schoolgirl are looking to the future as she undergoes another surgery
Phoebe Roberts is only 11 years old, but she has endured many risky surgeries in her short life. She was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, a build-up of spinal fluid on the brain and was not expected to even walk, but she defied the odds to not only walk, but also take part in ballet lessons at Dance 10 in Horncastle.
In 2022, Phoebe underwent a pioneering but risky ten-hour operation to help straighten her spine and remove and then re-align her ribs at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, and then another to remove part of her spine and discs, as well as removing another rib to access the correct part of her spine.
Phoebe then faced eight weeks in traction to slowly stretch her spine into a straighter position, then underwent yet another surgery in June last year to insert a rod and four screws into her back, which could have left her paralysed, but she defied the odds yet again.
"They said she wouldn’t walk and this surgery might paralyse her, but she’s yet again shown that she’ll defy the odds – she’s a warrior,” said her mum Rebecca.
There are no further surgeries planned for Phoebe at the moment, but Rebecca said the doctors are “watching and waiting” to see if her spine stays in position after the surgery and traction, and it’s possible she will need more surgery on her hips at some stage.
But she has been back taking part in her ballet classes, and has even taken her Grade Two ballet exam with her instructor Jacqui Boddy helping Phoebe complete some moves in her wheelchair as well as on her feet.
On Wednesday (June 19), Phoebe underwent another surgery, the Mitrofanoff procedure, to fashion a new urethra out of her removed appendix through which she can urinate using a catheter.
This will give Phoebe more independence, and yet again she surprised the doctors by coming home just a few days after her surgery.
"Phoebe’s taken it all in her stride as always,” Rebecca said, “She’s still smiling and chatting with the nurses who she remembers from her last time here.”
In another milestone, her family is now looking ahead to Phoebe starting secondary school, and she is all set to start at St Francis Special School in Lincoln this September.