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At Sierra Yoder’s 22-week ultrasound checkup, her doctor told her that her son would be born with an incredibly rare birth defect called an encephalocele. This condition occurs when a large portion of a baby’s brain grows and develops outside of their skull during their mother’s pregnancy.
The doctors told Sierra and her husband, Dustin, that their son would be “incompatible with life,” and offered them the choice of having an abortion.
During their debate, however, Sierra and Dustin felt their unborn son kick – which made them decide against the abortion.
Bentley Yoder was born several weeks later with a largely deformed skull that accommodated his brain. As doctors predicted, he was constantly struggling to survive.
By the time Bentley was six months old, he’d already been hospitalized on two different occasions to stave off two different infections. The fact that he did survive gave his parents hope, and they began to look for a doctor who might be able to fix his encephalocele.
Their research ultimately led them to find Dr. John Meara at the Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Meara had never performed this procedure before, but he believed he could open Bentley’s skull to make more room for his brain and close the hole with pieces of other parts of the skull. After several months of research and practice on 3-D printed skull models, Dr. Meara finally decided that it was time to perform the operation on Bentley.
The surgery was extremely successful.
Bentley had to undergo two more follow-up procedures to drain some fluid from his brain, but he is now at home with his parents and older brother recovering.
It’s hard even for Dr. Meara to predict Bentley’s growth and development in the future since the medical technology and procedure surrounding Bentley’s birth defect is all so new, but everyone is hoping with time and physical therapy, he will be able to enjoy his life to the fullest.
Mother Sierra agrees, and is constantly hoping for the best, “Nobody has any idea of what this kid is actually going to be able to do, because he's so different. Even the fact that he's meeting some of his milestones is a blessing, so we're just taking it one day at a time."
Watch the news feature of Bentley here:
