VW teenager still upbeat after 42 surgeries

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Noah Wyatt has had plenty of health challenges in his 16 years. Born with spina bifida, a congenital condition that results in the incomplete closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord, leading to defects in the spinal cord and bones of the spine, the teenager has had more than 40 surgeries, with the first coming a day after he was born and the 42nd this past week.

Spina bifida can result in a number of health problems for those who suffer from the disorder. In Noah’s case, he is paralyzed from the armpits down, while his vocal cords are also paralyzed. However, the biggest challenge for the wheelchair-bound teenager is hydrocephalus, a condition where excessive fluid accumulates in the brain, causing increased pressure on the skull. 

Approximately 25 of Noah’s 42 surgeries have been brain surgeries to deal with the hydrocephalus, said Noah’s father, Stuart.

Just last year, Noah spent 3½ months at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital from July through October for a series of 10 surgeries needed to deal with medical issues related to his spina bifida. He has also had to deal with losing his ability to swallow and having to be force-fed through a tube in his nose (that problem has been corrected through surgery), as well as having a tracheal tube in his throat for a number of years before it, too, could be removed.

“He’s awfully brave, he’s awfully good about it,” Stuart Wyatt said, while adding the days can get really long, though, waiting for doctors to come in to see him. “He handles it better than Mom and Dad; he’s quite a trooper.”

This last stay in the hospital for harder than normal for Noah, his dad said, because he was wanting to get back to his classes in Ag Diesel Mechanics at Vantage Career Center, where he is a junior.

“Before, when he was missing math and history and English, he wasn’t missing it all that much,” said Stuart Wyatt, “but now that he’s got to be out of shop he really wants to be back at school in class.” 

His father added that Noah has been participating as much as possible in the bookwork part of the class through Skype, an interactive communications app, but has had to miss the hands-on portion of the class.

The long and many hospital stays also create an added challenge for Noah’s family. When Noah is in the hospital, his father spends Monday through Friday with him, and then his mother spends the weekend at the hospital, while Stuart, who is pastor of Good Shepherd Church of the Nazarene in Van Wert, comes home to lead Sunday worship services.

Because of the many surgeries and hospital stays, Stuart said Noah’s two siblings, Alex, 14, and Lily, 11, have essentially lived in a single-parent household most of their lives, but added that both handle the situation really well.

Although Noah has spent time in all but one of Ohio’s children’s hospitals, Stuart Wyatt especially praised Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, not only for its excellent health care (the hospital is the No. 2 children’s hospital in the country), but also for the friendly and caring staff members there.

Stuart said the Van Wert County community has also been very supportive of Noah and the family.

“People of this community have been so generous and kind to us,” he said.

While it would be easy for Noah to be less than positive after all his health challenges and medical procedures, his father said that’s not the case for the teenager.

Rather than being down and upset over his health problems, Stuart Wyatt said Noah believes in being upbeat as much as possible, and also helps raise funds for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

“He always tries to be positive about it all,” his father said, while also noting that Noah usually handles the challenges better than his parents do.

In the past, Noah helped raise $7,500 during an earlier fundraiser to purchase Kindle e-book readers for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital patients, and now he is raising funds for programs that support parents and siblings of patients at the hospital. Area residents who want to donate can go to the following link: https://www.facebook.com/donate/387574728669076/751627941284/.

He is also selling t-shirts through Northwest Ohio Welch Trophy to raise funds for the hospital. The t-shirts, which include a Superman-style “S” on the front and a list of Noah’s “super powers”, cost $15, with $6 of the price going to Noah’s charity. That link is https://supernoahsupporttees2019.itemorder.com/sale.